All Rights to Hiro Mashima
This is for FairyRains, my first ever reviewer back on my first ever story "Blank." Thank you for your support right through from the beginning…
BEWARE! STORY PROGRESSION! ALSO FLUFFY CRAP!
(What the fuck is going on in the Manga right now…like…holy crap…I feel like I just dropped into a crossover with Doctor Who tbh…)
Chapter 25: Jet
This gem had been masquerading as a stone for many years before it was found out to be fossilized wood instead of rock; only driftwood of the family Araucariaceae will first fossilize then become lignite coal; England mines this "gem" extensively which came from the Jurassic Era 180 million years ago; Queen Victoria took a liking to it and declared it the official mourning jewel; used for purification and protection against evil entities and psychic attacks.
"She will sleep for at least another day. Do you know if she has any duties that she takes care of? Will they come looking for her?"
END shook his head. "Don't worry. Walking around of their own free will isn't something that Dragon Slayers are capable of." He watched her face turn quizzical. "Come. I'll show you what I mean."
They had woken up protectively curled around Wendy, the tiny Dragon Slayer in END's bed, hands clasped together over her body as if they could ward off the coming nightmares. Ridding evil and possession from a body would come with a price, the scar on her shoulder notwithstanding. Lucy knew that Wendy would have to fight whatever entity in her that was controlling her through the brand; it would take time, and much effort.
Lucy had asked END many questions, some easily answered such as "How was your sleep" to which he answered with a shrug and a slight grin. Others, made him ponder. How do you feel? Why would the Black Wizard kill you? What the hell is going on with the Oracion Seis? To which they could only speculate with hushed whispers and scoffs at the more ridiculous ideas.
But they agreed – unconsciously – on two things.
One, being the night they shared and the kiss, that glorious confusing kiss, was to be talked about and dissected and – possibly – repeated after they had left Alvarez. It wasn't safe now, especially with the looming cloud of battle hanging over their heads. There was something coming, just on the horizon. Lucy could feel it in her bones, just as she had when her mother passed when Igneel disappeared. When Natsu was murdered.
The stars were restless in the night sky, and so was she.
The second was the file that they stole the night before. They would bring it back to Domus, yes, along with a couple paintings, two very old books, hopefully, all of the Dragon Slayers (non-possessed versions), more information that they could shake a stick at and one small secret box in END's pocket. Lucy knew that the facts in that file, even though they were dry and scientific, would either bring her much joy or rip her to pieces.
She was afraid.
So very afraid of those small slips of parchment and some ink. Somehow END knew and left it alone as well, he could feel her tense up every time she walked passed or even glanced at the closet door.
There were too many people here, in the castle, in Domus as well that were counting on them to have level heads and take action out of logic and not with only their feelings and baser instincts. Lately, Lucy felt like all she did was fail and mess up and let her emotions run wild like an animal.
So here they were, standing outside yet another innocuous door in another bland hallway in the Fortress after discussing what was to be done with the other Slayers.
END opened the door and ushered Lucy in quickly. It wouldn't do to get caught outside this door of all places. Even if he was END and Lucy was "Layla, his guard." He had a feeling his standing with the Black Wizard had changed, what with his ordered extermination and unexplained unplanned absences, his name held no weight anymore.
It was time to leave this wretched castle for good, with the Slayers by his side and his woman leading the way back to somewhere that he hopefully could call home.
END was wrenched out of daydreams by Lucy's choking gasp.
He grimaced at the sight, thankful that he had never been possessed and treated this way, but he also felt guilt that he had never tried to get them out of this prison before.
Because that is what it truly was and what they were treated like.
Beasts in a cage.
Three pairs of soulless, blank red eyes stared at the intruders, not a sound was uttered, and nothing was exchanged except heavy breathing on Lucy's part and clenched fists on END's.
The room smelt of urine and sweat, of blood and despair. There were many sights that Lucy had seen in the heat of battle; in her many years of fighting, but this was something she would hopefully never grow used to.
The inhuman treatment of a sentient being.
It didn't matter to Lucy who it was. Her spirits, Demons from the pits of hell, possessed Dragon Slayers, captured enemies, or servants in the royal castles. Every life is worth something, and nothing can excuse what the Emperor was doing to these men.
For here they were, the last Dragon Slayers, bound, shackled with what looked like magic inhibiting cuffs (She would know those anywhere seeing as Virgo was one of her many spirits) and chained to the walls, one on each side of the room, the bolts embedded deep within the rock. There was an empty pair of shackles on the ground, smaller than the others.
Obviously, these were for Wendy, and somehow, that made it all the more despicable. The girl was barely a teenager. Just how long had she been cooped up in this room trapped like a pest in a cage?
She knew this was a possibility, but Lucy couldn't prepare herself for something like this entirely.
"What the hell? Why aren't they moving, trying to escape…anything?"
END looked down in shame. He had known they were kept like this, but done nothing to help, nothing to alleviate their suffering. In fact, he had only furthered it.
This was one of his greatest crimes to date, something that he felt that no matter how much he tried, he would never be able to make it up to them.
"They are possessed. The Black Wizard has taken their free will away from them leaving them as shells of their former selves. They are like machines now, awaiting someone to operate them. Spriggan orders them to fight, and so they do. He orders them to stay here, and they obey."
Lucy grits her teeth and hisses. "Why…are…they…bound?"
"…In the early years, they would fight against his control. The Black Wizard broke their minds with the help of black magic, binding their personalities in impenetrable chains. It took him many months to do this, even though they were children. He believed that it had something to do with the fact that they are at least half Dragon. Their beasts would fight and claw at the chains of his oppression."
"How do you know all this?"
"Because he used Hellfire to keep them subdued. I was the one who kept them from escaping, even though I was little more than a child myself. I was the one who branded them."
"You? How?"
"I was young, and just revived by Spriggan, utterly loyal to the man who vowed to get revenge for my accident. In my eyes, these four were the enemy, turned into tools, something that would incite fear and hopelessness against the other Kingdoms. And it worked for a while until the Dragon Slayers had been fighting his mind control, his possession. They had tried escaping and fighting, so he wanted to do more than that. He wanted them like this…mindless dolls to order around…so he gave me specific instructions. Brand them with my Hellfire in his symbol, the crown, and he would be forever grateful, give me anything I wanted."
"And what did you ask of the Black Wizard."
"…to keep the paintings I had found in that closet. I never put them up, never looked at them very much. But they were too important, and he wanted the destroyed for whatever reason. I didn't want them to be burned."
She had nothing to say to that, for the situation was so utterly beyond anything that she had heard before. This Demon had saved Natsu's paintings. He could have asked for anything from his leader, but he chose to save something insignificant to himself, or perhaps, it was Natsu who was pushing through and trying to keep a part of himself even though he had been lost.
Lucy understood, but at the same time, she didn't, for she had never gone through something like that in her whole life. But she knew of the orders that superiors gave and they would have to be done without question. END didn't have any more free will than these Slayers did; his chains were just a little longer.
"You're afraid. Aren't you? Of them? Of what they will do when we release them?"
"…Yes."
"Wendy didn't hold a grudge and hopefully with a little persuading and the fact that you are here now to right the wrong and help end this pointless war will help them to see you in a more favorable light."
END agreed silently, only giving his companion a single nod. "They can still hear us, still see us, they are still them under the blank personas. There is just a…disconnect between their minds and their bodies."
Lucy turned to them and spoke gently, in that way that he loved to hear so much. "My name is General Nova from the Domus Army. END and I have come to free you from these chains and the shackles in your mind as well. I have already freed Wendy from her possession, and she is safe, resting in END's room."
She looked down, her face calculating, eyebrows scrunched in thought. "I will remove the shackles from your minds and give you back your free will, but I have to keep you here in this room. I am truly sorry, but it will only be for the next couple of days until you shake the spell you are all under. END and I have a mission from King Makarov, and I am going to destroy Hell's Core and bring you all back to the Domus Army, where you will be able to make your own choices and fight for freedom alongside us or choose to leave and never look back…Forgive me, but you will all have a scar after this, and it will be painful."
One by one, Lucy gathered her magic – just as she had done with Wendy – and purged each Slayer of the brand set on their bodies by Hellfire and Black Magic. Although she knew what to expect, the process was no less gruesome or time-consuming.
Almost immediately, the two with black hair had succumbed to unconsciousness, their bodies falling lax as they drifted into a fitful slumber. She saw their eyes just before they had closed them, the sparkle of life had returned even though they remained red.
A wave of exhaustion passed over her as spots dotted her vision. She didn't realise just how much magic she had expended to free them from their mental prisons, but it was enough to completely exhaust her.
Limbs shaking, she drifted to the ground slowly, but before she could make a sound in surprise two very warm arms caught her in a vice grip.
She looked up to see Sakura hair and glinting black eyes before she passed out completely, letting the black take her away.
The last Slayer, a man with almost white blonde hair and electric blue eyes, watched the proceedings with careful thought. He recognised the one with pink hair vaguely and wondered where he had seen him before.
That was before the one who had been END looked up and made eye contact.
The blonde man smiled tiredly. "Natsu…I was hoping that Spriggan had been lying he they said you were dead."
END only nodded in agreement, his expression one of confusion. "Did I know you? When I was him?"
The question was…strange and the blonde was tired, so very tired. So he nodded and closed his eyes. "We were all friends. Close…more like cousins."
"What is your name?"
"…Sting."
And then he too let pure exhaustion take him away leaving the hurt and pain behind so that he could float on a bed of nothingness.
-ooo-
Lucy woke painfully, her bones creaking and muscles aching. Her body screamed at her for the abuse that she had given it.
Magic depletion should never be taken lightly, for it was almost more deadly than any sword.
She could hear two sounds in the room, one she could place, for it was Wendy's slow and steady breathing. The other was abnormal.
Whimpering. Desperate whining. Soft sounds of pain, of agony.
Lucy ripped back the coverings on the bed and completely disregarded the fact that she was only in her underwear, searching for the thing that was uttering such distressing sounds.
She spotted it, well…she spotted him.
END was kneeling on the floor, claws ripping at the hair on his head, body shuddering and teeth clenched from the force of keeping in the screams that obviously wanted to be released. Lucy vaulted from the bed, her feet hitting the cold stone floor sending gooseflesh up her legs.
But this too was disregarded in favour of sprinting to kneel beside the slumped form of her Demon. "END! What the hell is going on? A memory?"
She remembered the screams, the cries that came pouring out of his mouth the last time this happened. It was obvious that his body was rebelling, but he had enough presence of mind left to keep the sounds deep within.
Lucy tipped his head to look into his eyes and was immediately fumbling for her keys still strapped to her bicep.
He was bleeding out of his eyes. Obviously, there was something wrong. He needed to release the pent up energy and agony before it was pushed too far. Brain damage was a very real possibility at this point unless something was done immediately.
"Aries! Wool Wall please!" In a flash of light, Aries arrived beside her key wielder, ready for action, pose determined.
The shy ram immediately complied, creating a dome that encapsulated the room on all sides, disappearing once she was finished with a soft "Sorry Princess."
Another flash of light – this one accompanied by a puff of sparkling gold dust – came from Lucy's other side. She recognised that entrance of her Lion, Leo. But she had no time at the moment to talk to him, END needed her help.
She whispered directly into END's ear as she tried to wipe the blood from his face – now mixed with tears – but it was no use, they dripped down slowly in an unending river. "END. Let it go. You're going to kill yourself!"
END's eyes snapped open, but instead of the piercing red she was used to, his eyes were pitch black like a night without stars. Empty. Obviously, he was in a trance, but it seemed like he could hear her somewhat, or perhaps he understood on some level that he would die if this kept up.
So he tipped back his head and roared.
-ooo-
"Natsu! Stop lighting shit on fire you idiot boy and come here!"
A grumble was heard before Igneel pointed towards four children. Three were boys around his age, while there was a young girl, no older than two or three.
"Meet your cousins Natsu!"
Igneel pointed to the slightly older boy with red eyes, long shaggy hair and iron piercings. "This is Gajeel, Metalicanna's son." To a boy with bright blue eyes, white-blonde locks and a smile that rivalled his own. "Sting, Weislogia's son." Other with red eyes, blank expression and long black cape. "Ryos, son of Skyadrum."
The boy then rolled his eyes minutely and scoffed. "My name is Rogue, not Ryos."
A man three times his size and as burly as a bear kicked the child in the shin lightly. "Don't talk to the King that way you numbskull. Idiot son of mine. Gods…"
Igneel chuckled before sweeping the little blue haired giggling girl into his arms. "And this is Wendy. Daughter of Grandeeney." Natsu looked over at the tiny girl, smiling at her happiness.
"Hi, everyone! My names Natsu! I bet I could take you all on at once!"
Just like that, a brawl began and bonds formed.
Memory after memory formed of days and nights filled with happiness and fighting and eating and brawls. Of five small cats with wings. Of talking and laughter, so much laughter.
Then their parents disappeared.
Gajeel left on his own search, only to come back and apprentice with a blacksmith and refusing to talk more than a few grunts.
Sting and Rogue threw themselves into studies and training, barely acknowledging the outside world.
Wendy was sent to an orphanage called Cait Shelter.
No more laughter, no more fights, he didn't see his brothers and sister again.
-ooo-
"END! Hey, idiot! Come back to me!"
Light slaps and quick taps to his forehead were felt before he could even open his eyes. That revelation was the most painful one that he had ever had. He had tried to keep the pain back, tried to keep his curses and yelling to a minimum so that Lucy could sleep peacefully and regain her energy she lost.
She deserved an uninterrupted rest for all that she had done. She deserved that and so much more truthfully.
"Luce…" END's eyesight finally adjusted, black spots clearing from the edges of his vision to see his beautiful wild-eyed Lucy staring down at him, his head pillowed on her muscular thighs.
"Dammit, you stupid fucking Demon. Do not keep that shit in again! You almost gave yourself brain damage! Are you an idiot?"
While END was hoping for a doting and fretting Lucy, he realised that this version of her was more likely. She was a strong and capable woman who only offered soft voices and carefully touches to those that she felt were in dire need of it.
The way his bones felt like lead and muscles ached, he felt like he was in need of it, but if she was here at all, it meant that she cared. He rubbed his cheek on her soft skin, revelling in her scent. "What the hell are you going on about Luce?"
"You were keeping your screams in END. The energy you were using to suppress the need to yell was causing you to fucking bleed out of your goddamn eyes!" She was yelling at him now, her eyes sparkling with both anger and too much panic. "I was so worried!" He could see tears now, gathering at the edges of those huge amber eyes.
No.
Not again. He wouldn't allow her to cry over him again.
Immediately he engulfed her in a crushing hug, uncaring about the blood on her hands and arms and on his face and neck, uncaring that she was clad only in a bra and panties. Uncaring that her Lion was splitting his time between checking out her ass and glaring at him.
Actually, END did care about that last one, Lucy was an unbelievably gorgeous woman, but she should only show herself like this to people that she deemed worthy. END glowered and snarled at Leo, snapping his black wings around them cocooning them in semi-darkness and privacy.
A small part of him whispered that the way Lucy was at that moment for his eyes only. That it should be kept just between them.
"What was that for?" He watched as Lucy blinked up at the sudden action and his feral noises. She reached out a tentative hand and stroked one wing. "…it's so soft." Her smile was answered with one of his own.
"Luce. You do know you're practically naked, right? And that your kitty there was trying to imagine you without your underwear on."
"Ah. Uhm…no. I didn't. Now I do." He wound his arms around her torso tighter trying to cover up as much as possible so she wouldn't feel so vulnerable and exposed.
If those actions somehow let him feel more of her silky skin littered with scars and nicks – each one both endearing and something to take pride in for she was a woman of action – then so be it.
He really only had the more innocent motives in mind, of course.
"…END. Why am I naked? I can't remember anything passed freeing the Dragon Slayers' minds."
The Demon stood up, carrying the woman in his arms over to the bed and dropped her down on it, covering her with the duvet. She looked tired still, and he was sure that she would sleep for at least the rest of the day. "You released the Slayers from their shackles but passed out, you used a lot of magical energy." He removed his wings from around them, giving an entirely irate Lion a full view of both of them once again. END and Lucy disregarded his presence for the time being, to the annoyance of Leo, who pouted in the corner until he could ask his questions. END didn't tell her that Sting had recognised his other form, nor the fact that he had leapt out a window and flew them back to his room when he had recovered his Demon form.
There were just things that he would keep to himself.
"I brought you back here and pulled off your boots, put you to bed."
"Yes…but why am I in my fucking underwear?"
"You did that. While you were sleeping. Apparently, you run hot while you rest?"
Lucy blinked owlishly up at him, remembering how she usually only slept in one of Laxus' tunics and nothing else. "Alright then." She flapped her hand at him to come closer. Lucy wanted to know without a doubt that he would be fine now.
END was happy that that conversation went better than he thought it would. He reached out and stroked her forearm with one of his fingers subconsciously, although, she didn't seem to mind or maybe she didn't really notice just as he didn't. "I'm so sorry Luce. I didn't want to wake you with screams. You needed your sleep, and I didn't think that that one would be that bad…"
Lucy flipped her arm over grasping his wandering hand with hers, winding their fingers together and giving them a small squeeze. "I know. Don't worry. Just…don't do that shit again." She looked over to the still slumbering Wendy. "I can't believe she actually slept through that…damn."
END shrugged, playing with her fingers in his. "She was always a heavy sleeper."
Her startlingly brown eyes snapped up to him, wandering over his face for a moment before she spoke in a hushed tone. "That was what the memory was, wasn't it? The Slayers?"
"Yes…they were close. Cousins. Brothers. Sister. Along with that fucking stripper and Titania. We were all together in the later years. Until Igneel and the others disappeared. They left Luce, never looked back. But that's alright. There is a second chance in all this. To reconnect, if possible."
Lucy gently laid a hand on END's cheek, the gesture giving strength and comfort. He nuzzled her palm and pressed a light kiss to it in thanks.
She giggled happily, completely disregarding the blood and tear tracks still left on his face and her hands. At this moment, there was only them.
Until a certain Lion decided to make another entrance and break the spell of tranquillity around them. "Alright. What the actual fuck is going on between you two?"
Lucy stiffened and peeked around to see Leo glowering down at them from his spot beside the bed. "You're both acting…weird. Like newlyweds."
Understanding dawned on his face like the sun rising over the mountains. "Oh, Gods! You two fucked, didn't you? NO! Princess! You were supposed to wait for me to sweep you off your feet and make love to you all night long…not have an obviously too quick romp in the sack with this…Demon."
While Lucy rolled her eyes at her Lion's antics – he was always the drama queen – END snapped his jaw tight and growled deep within his chest. He had only made a noise like that once before when Lucy had been losing control of her magic, but it came from somewhere deep inside him. "We did not fuck you crude ass furball."
That feeling was both familiar and strange. A part of END but also not. Maybe it was part of a different side of him.
As far as this…weird part of END was concerned, there was another male trying to assert dominance over him while trying to steal his chosen Queen. And this side – for it was the Drake he had once been – answered with a certain deadly growl.
Leo's ears flattened against his head, the picture of subservience, while it sent shivers up Lucy's spine. The feeling of claiming, of belonging thrummed in her chest and made her feel warm and safe.
The Lion knew that sound – he was an immortal being after all and had heard just about everything there was to ever hear – and narrowed his eyes at Lucy, checking her over carefully. Finding something off, he stalked forward and ripped the bandage off his summoner's shoulder.
Leo bared his teeth at the deep puncture wounds, his growl filling the room just as END's had done only moments prior. "END! You have a lot to answer for! I must tell the Spirit King about this," at that he gestured to the mark, "and there will be a decision to make."
Burning red challenged searing green and END lifted his lips in a snarl that showed off his fangs.
In a flourish of sparkling lights, Leo vanished back to the Celestial Plane, while Lucy sat bewildered in her spot and END blinked back into the waking world. Whatever had possessed him to challenge the Lion Spirit curling into himself once again, hidden for the time being.
END glanced at Lucy, then down at himself, embarrassed to see himself still covered in blood and mildly aroused, whether from the fact that there had been talk of claiming – which sent and electric shock through his system – or perhaps it was the state of undress that Lucy had been in for close to an hour. Whatever the case, he needed a shower.
A very cold one.
He shook his head and glanced sheepishly at Lucy. "Uhm, I'm going to get all this blood off. Yeah."
Lucy watched the Demon dash away into the bathroom, a bemused smirk on her face. She liked seeing END flustered, it was very endearing. She refused to even think about anything else when she was so tired.
She laid down again, yawning, ready to slip away into her dreams once again.
A small snorting snore jolted her out of her reverie.
She glanced over to see Wendy still sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed now clutching a pillow to her chest, and Lucy laughed quietly throwing an arm over her eyes.
Deep sleeper indeed.
-ooo-
Black eyes pierced the still night.
His control was slipping, he could feel it. Something had changed this day but whatever it was, was out of his reach for the moment.
Robes rustled and swayed as the Black Wizard paced back and forth before his throne. Three figures bowed before him, kneeling prostrate on the floor.
The Emperor hissed to himself softly. There was still a spy in his castle, someone was undermining his actions, unravelling his plans, stealing important documents and information.
He finally stilled in front of his servants and smirked. They would find the intruder and kill them painfully, or they would take the spies place in Kyouka's torture chamber.
"Mard Geer, Brandish, God Serena…find the traitor. Redouble your efforts. Destroy them or you will have me to answer to. Phantom Lord and Grimoire Heart have been recalled from the field to be interrogated. Those who oppose you will be exterminated. Those who you suspect to being working with Domus will be interrogated by Kyouka. You know how much she likes to…talk to people."
Spriggan swept back to sit on his throne, ramrod straight and unyielding. "Begone."
He wouldn't let others like Cobra or Jellal bring his empire crumbling to the ground. No, he had invested too much into his plans to back out now. He was close to finding the answer.
As his three puppets left to do their bidding, he caught a small flicker of something in Brandish's eyes. He narrowed his own, it seemed like he would need to question his own Shield after this.
No one could be trusted.