Overall, this story is technically over with this chapter. However, next week there will be an extra chapter to tie off a few loose endings and give you a bit more to think about for any new stories I publish.

Shadows
Chapter 18; Aftermath

Natsu felt his body ache with exhaustion as he dropped down to his knee. Small shoulder collections of dust and debris scattered onto the floor. The adjoining room he'd managed to push Jaedou into was already showing signs of crumbling. The building wasn't going to hold much longer. He hoped Gray, Erza and Silver were having better luck than him.

Jaedou showed similar signs of fatigue, but still managed to make his body stand and move. There was a little more speed and edge in his step than before. Finally, it seemed he had stepped up to the challenge and fought Natsu seriously.

However, Natsu had to end the fight soon. Jaedou was giving it all he's got, and so was Natsu. But the fight wasn't going much further. With Lucy's magic running through his veins, Natsu had the extra step over Jaedou in all aspects; speed, agility, stamina, strength, and such. The only problem was, he could feel Lucy's magic in his body fading. It was only faint and only a little each minute, but if there was any chance for Jaedou to win over Natsu, it wouldn't end well. As Lucy's power was fading, he also managed to get an insight on his body. The power that Lucy gave him was pushing his body way past his limits. The longer he used it, the more damage he was doing to himself. Natsu wasn't sure how far his injuries would be after it, but he certainly didn't want to increase them.

Natsu pulled his wits together, rising to his feet. A little more determination fitted into his cold, hard irises, staring heartlessly at his opponent. Jaedou's eyes were the complete opposite; they we're hungry and blood thirsty, practically beckoning how he wished to tear the dragon slayer apart bit by bit. Natsu had set off a bomb inside Jaedou that was wrecking havoc inside of his mind at that time. Crazy or not, Jaedou had to be defeated.

Like a sounding gun to a race, Natsu's thoughts ended with a bang as Jaedou appeared in the air in front of him, propelling a fist in his direction. "GRAVITY:" He called. Natsu moved to block the attack, raising his arm. A second later he remembered the last time, Jaedou had managed to catch him. Jaedou's bare fingers snaked out, flattening his palm. "CENTER!" They swooped past, aiming for his chest. Luckily, Natsu realised early and managed to move just out the way for Jaedou's attack to miss. The man hissed with a grin on his face, lashing out like a snake at a moment's notice. Jaedou wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon, his body was like a beast's, hunting for its pray. It was merciless.

Natsu moved like light, turning in the air and drilling a kick through the air towards the man's pale white complexion. Natsu speed outweighed Jaedou's and his body went flying directly into the wall. He broke straight through, falling into an empty room besides the room Natsu was in.

Suddenly, a tremor shook the ground at the dragon slayer's feet, making him unsteady. As the ground steadied, Jaedou leapt out of nowhere, catching Natsu by surprise. The dragon slayer barely had enough time to react and block the enormous chunk of wall shooting his way like a meteorite falling to Earthland. Natsu swung, forcing all his power into his fist as it collided against the rock's surface. His power channeled into his body.

As it heard his call, beautiful white flames burst up around his body like a god's flame. "IRON FIST OF THE WHITE FIRE DRAGON!" Natsu roared, burying his fist into the rock face. There hadn't been any time to dodge. So he broke it. Shattered pieces of rock burst out in any direction, flying into walls, floor and the ceiling.

Out of those falling pieces, Jaedou appeared, but Natsu was expecting it. The dragon slayer seized a large chunk of rock from the smashed meteor, and launched it into the mid-air man, sending him up into the ceiling. Jaedou wasn't able to break through to the floor above, and came collapsing down to the floor as the rock fell. Natsu took up more pieces of rock, spit-firing them at the fallen opponent. Jaedou rolled onto his stomach, casting a fist sized rock from his hand to the other side of the room. "GRAVITY: CENTER!" Jaedou yelled.

Instantly, the small rocks changed direction like a missile, and collided, and merged with the small stone. Natsu felt the weak tug of the stone's new gravitational pull, but was able to ignore it. Jaedou couldn't cause an effect on the gravity of big objects, and could only effect smaller ones. Which was lucky for him he supposed.

Jaedou let out a long groan, shakily pulling himself to his hands and knees. "Ya' think I'd let you stop me? Like this? ME!" The man's voice lifted and fell back down into a mutter. "YOU- YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME. YOU AND THAT LITTLE-"

"There's one more thing Lucy asked of me. It's a gift for you. From her." Natsu cut in, not letting him get any closer to saying anything bad about Lucy. The dragon slayer didn't even want to say her name in front of him.

"A gift, for me?" Jaedou cooed, falling back onto his feet. "How sweet of her."

Quietly, Natsu closed his eyes, relaxing calmly. The magic in his body began to jitter and tingle, as the dragon slayer took a small breath in. "Open the heavens, survey the heavens..." Natsu began to chant. His thoughts slowed into a mindless blank. White covered his eyes, rendering him blind. The last things he heard as his vision faded into a silent world of enveloping magic, was the faint mumbles of Jaedou's bezerk yelling. Then, Natsu fell into a new world, letting his body relax. Then the magic inside of him took over, pouring from him. For a moment, Natsu felt the faint scent of strawberry and vanilla dispersing into the magic that moved like it was alive, transforming into some great power.

"All the stars far and wide..." His voice echoed in his ears. In his little world, Natsu could hear Lucy speaking with him, like she was beside him, willing the magic to work and end it all.

"Show me thy appearance..."

"With such shine..."

"O tetrabiblos..."

"I am the ruler of the stars..."

"Aspect became complete..."

"Open thy malevolent gate..."

"O 88 stars of the heaven..."

In the last seconds, when the magic reached it's peak, Natsu felt a burst of energy explode throughout his body. Eyelids burst open, lighting up wherever he looked like torchlight. "SHINE!" Natsu's voice belted, as thousands of stars wrapped around him exploded like a supernova. Ashen, blinding light burst out like a birds wings, encompassing everything, even Jaedou's blank face, into a white wonder world of pure magic.

Falling rocks, caving-in walls and crumbling cells shook and fell as the hallways were collapsing around them. The whole place was shaking and shaking, rocking the unsteady mages as they stumbled desperately through the ending hallways. Feet moved, swerved and stumbled to avoid the falling obstacles dropping like flies around them. Happy's small, quiet body was held in Erza's grasp, while Lucy, bloody and bruised, laid in Gray's arms, fading in and out of consciousness. Silver lead the way with a torch, quickly reciting which turning to take for the fastest route out of there.

"Where the hell is Natsu?" Gray snapped, dodging a wave of bricks that crumbled from the wall beside him. "This place will come down any second now!"

Erza quickly glanced over her shoulder, looking down into the dark end of the corridor, which had pretty much almost caved in. "I don't know." Erza shook her head, with a seriously worried look. She decided to change focus. "For now, let's get Lucy and Happy out of here, like Natsu said." Gray gave her a short glance to the side, nursing his own insecure expression, and nodded, quickening his pace.

"The cells!" Issac called ahead, hurrying the mages even more. A small wave of relief swept over Gray as his eyes picked up the start of the iron gates ahead.

As Gray and Erza caught pace, they saw the familiar metal bar cells. Some had already fallen in behind the upstanding iron bars, others looked a little unfazed. More importantly, it meant they were nearing the exit.

Just as they found their hope in escape, a horrible tremor sent them tumbling over their feet. Everyone crashed against the floor, hitting the ground hard. They couldn't even get up before the ceiling weakened and collapsed in, blocking out any freedom.

Gray laid, fading out of consciousness, watching the darkness sweep around him as the light slowly died. His allies, friends, and Silver, laid strewn around him. The white wonder world of peace beckoned him, but the ice mage couldn't seem to take his eyes off the darkening world. Was this the end? Were they going to die? For him, to fail an idiot like Natsu's request, only made him a bigger idiot. No matter what, he couldn't let Natsu make a fool of him.

Strength, of what little there was in his body, drew towards his arms and legs. It wasn't enough. Still, Gray had to push forward. Desperately, he pushed and pushed his muscles, willing them to make him stand. Slowly, his body began to push against the stone floor, lifting his shaking body. "I...I can't...let that idiot..." Gray growled. "...down." But his body couldn't make it any further. All his effort still swept from him, falling against the floor. That didn't mean he would give up. Even with the quakes under his feet, even with the falling stones, he would use all his will to get his friends out. Lucy's magic that had given them strength and speed was gone, numbing his aching body.

He tried again, regathering the even smaller collection of strength from his body. It was no use. He pushed and pushed his body until not even his iron will could lift it. "Damn it!" Gray gasped. Why? Why couldn't he get up? Was his will too weak? No. His body couldn't betray him, not at the moment, not when he needed it most. "I will...save...you!" He growled. An unknown strength tore his body apart, as it gave it the life to move.

It was slow, but it was moving. His body dragged itself slowly across the ground. Finally, he closed in on the unconscious blonde, her brown eyes flickering open and falling back closed. Lucy was having her own battle with her consciousness. Though, Gray was sure he was loosing to the ache in his mind, his body still moved on.

A sound screeching roar of stone above him, alerted his senses. Large tumbling rocks of concrete, teetered over the edge of a black whole in the ceiling above. It was favoring to fall. And it was right above Lucy. Gray's body paniced, feeling the roar of all his life energy pounding through his veins. It was probably adrenalin, but he didn't care. Not at that moment. His mind became one tracked. Protect Lucy.

As the rock fell, Gray's body moved without command, following its instincts.

Suddenly, a tearing hot pain burst over Gray's back like he had been slapped with lava. His body shook, hovering over Lucy's as the rock tumbled from his back. Thank god. He had got there in time to protect Lucy. He wouldn't loose to that hot-headed idi-

Darkness swept over him like a tidal wave, sweeping him away almost instantly. In his last fleeting moments of consciousness, he felt the strength of a strong arm catch his caving body. A beautiful white light burst through the black for a second. Then he was dragged down for the last time.

Natsu laid against the torn up stone beneath his back, watching the ceiling crumble around him from his motionless body. He couldn't move, not an inch or lift a finger, yet his body still stood tall like a statue. There was but a little light from the few shards of Natsu's flames from earlier. They glowed with a beautiful white fluorescence. For being in a falling building, unable to move, the dragon slayer was surprisingly calm. Maybe it was from the remains of magic tingling through his veins that wrapped him in so much energy that reminded him of Lucy. For some reason, she was always able to calm him. Whether sleeping on her lap on the train, or in the darkness of night, she was always calming him.

Jaedou let out a harsh series of laughs, which ended in weak chokes. It cut the dragon slayer from his thoughts like a knive. 'So that guy wasn't dead or even unconscious?' Natsu thought, feeling slightly disappointing. From what Natsu could tell, Jaedou didn't look like he could get up anymore. To be safe, the dragon kept a weary eye on him, but didn't tell him to shut up. "You're definitely his son, aren't ya?" Jaedou chuckled. "Same pink hair to boot."

"You keep calling me 'his' son." Natsu recalled, using the small time he had before seeing if there was a possibility of escaping. Jaedou was going to be crush there anyway, he might as well know.

"It's because you are." Jaedou mused softly with a light peppy voice for a probably-dying person. "Like father like son."

"Igneel doesn't have pink hair." Natsu commented, trying to picture Igneel in his mind. It seemed to escape his mind like a fleeting bird. At that moment, Natsu noticed the crushing pressure of the darkness sweeping in around him. Sound, sight, smell and his other senses began to fade from him. It was more like he was fading, than them. He was the one fading out of consciousness as exhaustion began to set in.

"That dragon isn't your father," Jaedou laughed. "Your real father..."

It sounded like he was saying something really important, but sound completely escaped the dragon slayer. The exhaustion caught hold of him tightly, rushing him out of his world.

The last thing he felt, was strong hands wrapped around his shoulder with gentle power. "Well done, Natsu." A strange voice whispered. Darkness didn't give him leniency any longer as he was lost into the black.

A soft, soothing breeze brushed through her hair. The warm familiar scent of fresh bread floated in the air. Soft cotton fabric rested over her skin. She felt as light like a feather, but at the same time, she felt so drained. White light cut into her pupils as her brown eyes flickered open. She winced at the piercing brightness as her eyes began to adjust. Brown oak rafters held the ceiling up above her. Cobwebs and dust hid in the cracks of the ceiling. As she moved down, she noticed the open window; curtains fluttered gently in the breeze carrying the wave of chatter of the busy streets. Several white beds lined up beside her, some were sectioned off with separating curtains, the rest were empty and well-made. It was strange...it felt familiar to her. Where was she? Why was she there? Where was Natsu? Natsu... NATSU!

Memories flooded her consciousness; The underground hideout, Jeadou, Natsu...and that magic. She gave it to Natsu, but then... She couldn't remember anymore! What happened after that? What happened to everyone else? What about Natsu? Was he okay?

Energy surged up in her heart that was doing flips in her chest. She thrusted her body straight up, dragging back the curtains. A dizzying blood rush temporarily caught her as she stumbled to her feet. She reached out for the nearest curtain, gathering up the material in her fist. But just as she was about to pull it back, another hand caught her wrist. "I see you're alright." A sly, deep voice chuckled.

"SILVER!" Lucy squawked leaping out of her skin.

"You're supposed to say 'Good Morning'." He grumbled irritably. Lucy freed her wrist from his and held it close to her chest.

Lucy ignored him, her eyes moving everywhere. "Where are we?" She demanded. "What happened? Where's Natsu and everyone?"

"Is that pink boy all you think about?" Silver sighed, catching her bicep and leading her back to her bed. He sat her down despite her struggling, set his hands on her shoulder and faced her with his murky silver eyes. "The building begun to collapse. We managed to get you all out. You are in your guild's infirmary." Silver explained simply.

"'you all?' Then Natsu's okay as well?" Lucy lit up. One of her last memories was separating from Natsu. Except, while she was sleeping, she had a dream. Her and Natsu were together, chanting a spell, but the dream was fading fast and it was already too hazy to remember any more.

"Yes. Everyone's safe." Silver reassured her, and Lucy let out a deep sigh of relief. "Well...safe enough." He added after a thought.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy asked suspiciously.

"Well, let's just say that they're alive, okay?" Silver smiled.

"I want to see them." Lucy pushed herself back up, trying to shove Silver out of her way. Another dizziness swept over her again, knocking her off balance. She felt sick and her stomach pounded heavily. Issac twisted and settled her back onto the bed. Why did her stomach hurt so bad? Oh...that was right she was stabbed. Lucy ran a hand over her stomach...except there was nothing. Quickly, she lifted her shirt to reveal a smooth, unscarred stomach. Not even a scratch. "What the-? There's nothing there! I was stabbed! There's got to be something there! But-"

"It was your magic." Silver interuppted. Lucy gave him a curious stare. "I might as well tell you." He shrugged, letting his broad, all-muscle body relax on the edge of the bed. Dirt ice eyes fell onto her with his complete attention. Brown eyes spun onto him, burning with curious intent. "Your magic Lucy, is different from that of a normal person's."

"In what way?" Lucy asked. Memories of the bright white light bursting from her body twisted around in her thoughts.

"Multiple. It is a superior magic. There isn't much I can tell you now, but it was the magic that healed you, and saved your friends... and me."

"How?" Lucy pushed, hungry to know more.

"If only there was time, little Lucy." Silver sighed, looking tired. She hadn't noticed it until now, but very, very faint lines coarsed down over his skin like twirling tattoos crawling up to his neck. "This is where it ends for us, sadly."

"End? What do you mean?" Lucy questioned. Something like a pindrop echoed in an empty abyss of her heart, making it sink a little.

"Jeadou was only able to get to you because of a mistake by me and my allies. It's time to rectify that mistake, restore everything to how it was." Silver explained, his gaze slipped from hers down to his hands where he flipped a pocket knife out and in.

"'Rectify that mistake'. 'Restore everthing to how it was'?" Lucy repeated hollowly, feeling a sick sensation of dread rise in her stomach as it slowly dawned on her. She could barely find her voice "You're going to...get rid of my memories?"

"Not just your's; your friends', your guilds', anyone who had ties to this case."

Lucy burst. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" She screamed, shocking Issac so much he involuntarily turned to face her. A bright red flush burned her skin. Brown eyes boiled with fury. And tears washed down her cheeks. "YOU'RE JUST GOING TO TAKE MY MEMORIES FROM ME! AFTER EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED! AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"

"That's precisely why I'm doing this!" Silver snapped back. "Calm down!" He tried to reach forward but Lucy slapped his hand away.

"NO YOU LISTEN! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TAKE MY MEMORIES FROM ME! NOT AGAIN! NOT FROM MY FRIENDS! YOU CAN'T JUST COVER THIS UP!"

"We can." A second voice cut in. Lucy whirled, her eyes falling on a man dressed in a long white cloak, a black cross running over the center and back. The hood was up and hid his face, but it couldn't hide his presence. Lucy felt it, and it was huge. Who ever her was, he was important, and even Silver seemed to hesitate to speak.

"One, she just-" Silver hesitantly intervened.

"I know." He replied back coldly. The atmosphere became extremely heavy and extremely tense. "Lucy Heartfilia, we cannot allow you to live with any knowledge of this; not Jeadou, or your magic. Nothing. There are spells that can steal memories, so it's best for you and the world if we take those memories from you."

"For the best?" Lucy sneered back. "You mean it's convenient for you. I won't let you take them."

"Lucy," Silver interupted. "Your guildmates memories have already been erased-"

"YOU DID WHAT? WHEN DID YOU MANAGE TO SNEAK AROUND AND DO THAT!" She screeched.

"When you were fighting with Jeadou, but-"

Lucy ignored him, her feet whirling, her eyes snapping onto the cloaked figure. "Good or bad you can't change what's happened to me. I won't go back to who I was." Lucy growled, her fists clenching at her sides, her eyes levelling at him. Anger had risen so high in her chest, she was afraid she was going to try cause some serious damage.

"No. It's true we won't be able to revert everything. Your body and mind has experienced everything and that will always stay with you. But this is still the right thing to do." He continued. He turned his head towards the other side of the room and suddenly there were four others. Each had their own black and white cloak. Their height and build was different; one had long flowing hair that was tied with little ribbons all the way down. Another had a necklace hanging out of his clock with an odd wooden shape at the end of the chain; It looked a lizard, a chameleon maybe? Two more were also approaching from behind them. They moved effortlessly like they were floating down the isle of beds straight for her. One moment they were several feet away from her, the next, they were right next to her. The one with the long hair stopped in front of her besides the one with the wooden necklace. The other two reached straight for Lucy, twisting and pinning her arms behind her back.

"HEY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING LET GO OF ME!" Lucy screeched thrashing her body frantically to break free, but couldn't break their grip by an inch.

The one with the wooden necklace slowly reached his big, tanned hands up towards his hood and drew the fabric back. Soft brown hair fell around the ages of his face. Deep blue eyes were like a cool oceanic sea. Tanned skin, more beautiful than anyone elses, glowed in the sunlight. He looked like someone she knew; Ran, another beautiful man, she knew well. For a second Lucy felt she might be mesmerised, but the rage kicked back in too quickly. Her body fought to be free, she refused to have her memories forcibly taken from her. She couldn't. She didn't want to forget. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THEM!" Lucy screamed. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her mouth was dry from screaming. Panic pushed her body into a desperate frenzy. "NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! " She shouted as he approached closer. "NO GO AWAY!"

A figure in the corner shadow flinched, his only visable mouth turning grim. "GET OFF ME! LET GO! NATSU!" Lucy screamed, kicking and fighting free of their strong grips. "I CAN'T FORGET! NOT WHEN I FINALLY REALISED!"

"It's no use; Just do it before she uses her magic." A voice, sounding shockingly similar to the dragon slayer's spoke, except it was a lot deeper. Lucy's darted around, desperately looking for him. But, he wasn't there. What she saw was not her dragon slayer. Her eyes lead her to the man in the corner she had noticed before. Strangly, she couldn't take her eyes off him. Even as her body faught and stuggled the grip of the people around her as they pinned her body down against the couch, her mind's attention seemed stuck on him.

One of the people grabbed Lucy's chin and turned it upwards, pointing directly at the beautiful man. He closed in on her, his eyes locking onto her as a hand slid over her eyes and forehead. "Mind Magic: Forget." He whispered.

Lucy wanted to pull away but felt somekind of resistance no matter how hard she tried. Sleep dug its claws in, trying to pull her back. Lucy knew if she lost against it, she would loose those precious memories. When she next wakes up, everything will be gone. Everthing she realised, she won't know. "I ONLY JUST REALISED!" Lucy tried to scream but felt her voice slowly dying. "That I...that I love him!" she whispered. As Lucy's dying concentration and awareness failed her, her eyes held onto the man in the corner. She saw his head shoot up, looking in her direction. Her brown eyes met dark blue eyes staring back at her. But what caught her eyes the most, was the salmon pink hair peaking through the hood's shadows. It was pink hair...like Natsu's?

Slowly, her body still and went limp, staring into the swirling eyes of blue dragging her into a daze. Small lines of pale blue swam like a fish in his eyes, slowly joining up until it made a shape. The shape of a magic circle. Lucy could only stare as the little circle in his eyes glow. Everything about Jeadou and everything that happened was slowly fading from her. Her brain was forcing herself to remember, and as she did, she slowly forgot. It was like watching a movie except as soon as you watched one scene, it was deleted.

"Please..." she uttered weakly, feeling herself slowly lose herself in his eyes. "Don't let me forget it...not when I... just realised... I...love him." And that was it. The memories slipped loose from her head, she remembered nothing and felt her body slacken and her conciousness fail as she was thrown into a dark ignorance.

Next Monday; Chapter 19; Epilogue: The Complexity of Snowflakes
Shadows draws to a close, in the final chapter. Natsu and Lucy attend the Winter ball, but their memories are gone, but suspicious people linger.

If you liked Shadows try checking out some of my other stories.

Don't forget to review, favorite and recommend to others.

If you want more Shadows don't forget to follow!

-A-ccentric