I hadn't gotten any sleep that night Lucy left, or any night for the next few days. Lucy refused to show at the library, but I still went in hopes she would appear. Eventually I would be forced to head back to my dorm and crawl into bed, but I was always too confused and conflicted to rest. I found myself lying down in bed, tossing and turning, as I tried to understand what Lucy had told me and what she was going through. However I was never able to come up with an answer that made sense to me.
Day after day I walked into class the feeling drifted and absent from my own mind. Three days, almost four had passed, and I didn't even see Lucy in the halls anymore. It was as if her entire presence was wiped away from the academy and had painted my entire world in greys, leaving me feeling empty.
Gray had been waiting for me when I arrived back that night she left me, sitting in his chair from before, looking suspicious, but concerned. He had asked me how it went, but by the way my voice sounded numb and void when I answered, he immediately stood up in concern. He continued to pester me about what happened, but I refused to give and turned in for the night, locking my door so he wouldn't bother me. However my actions only seemed to worry him even more and he kept a close eye on me over the next couple of days.
It didn't take long for him to notice that something was wrong with my hand. He first took note of it in first period the day after, but by lunch he was sure that something was amiss. Gray confronted me about it during lunch while we were sitting with all of our friends, purposefully out in the open so I couldn't hide the truth.
"So Natsu, since when did you eat with your left hand?" The ice mutant asked from his seat across from me. I looked up from where I had been absent-mindedly eating a plate of spaghetti pasta, awkwardly holding a fork in my left hand. Gray's question had brought the attention of all of our other friends to us, making a cheap answer hard to convince all of them.
"Turns out I'm ambidextrous." I replied simply, returning to my food as if the question was never asked.
"Really? Because you seem to be struggling an awful lot with holding your fork." Gray countered. Their friends around seemed to get a feeling that there was something going on between by the way they all tensed at the underline atmosphere.
"I don't think so." I disagreed, purposefully shoving a mouthful of noodles into my mouth to make a point.
"Earlier in class you were writing with your left hand as well." Gray added on, "I knew you had bad handwriting, but it was barely readable."
I felt my stomach plummet and threaten to regurgitate whatever food it contained. My palms became sweaty as glances were passed across the friend group. Their suspicion had been raised and I wasn't sure if I could bring them down.
"Natsu is this true?" Levy asked from her seat down near the end of the table next to Gajeel.
"What is going on?" Erza demanded from beside me.
All of their gazes turned on me, making me feel significantly smaller, there was no way I could answer their questions and make them believe without revealing the truth. Even if she had abandoned me, Lucy's life and power would not be betrayed by me.
"Well Natsu?" Gray asked when I remained quiet to all their questions, looking at me with such certainty and expectancy of an answer.
However I refused to betray my loyalty to Lucy and instead of answering, I grabbed Gray and pulled him up from the table and dragged him out of the cafeteria.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia called as her boyfriend was ripped away from her, followed with a couple hundred gazes following us before they returned to whatever they were doing before. Once we were out of the eyes and away from the ears of the other students, I stopped to confront my best friend.
"What was that about, ice fuck?" I questioned him in a loud voice.
"If you would just tell me what's going on then I wouldn't have had to do that, you piece of flaming shit!" He fired back and tried to grab my right arm, but I moved out of the way before he could.
"I told you I'm fine!" I bit back as I continuously stepped away, as he continuously stepped forward after me.
"No your not!" He denied and managed to grab onto my right wrist. I tried fight back but he pinned me and restricted my movement. I willed my right hand to stay up straight to make it look as if it was fine, but Gray saw that it was limp and useless. Putting his hand over mine he froze it into a solid block of ice. Usually that would hurt for only a small moment before I would melt the ice, however this time I couldn't feel my skin freeze at all, nor could I melt it.
"You can't feel it." Gray breathed in realization as he let go, backing away in a shocked stumble. "You're paralyzed."
"Only in my right hand, it noth-"
"Did she do this to you?!" He seethed in contempt. I shook my head, not shaving the blame on her.
"I did." Which was the truth, I had grabbed her hands to calm her down knowing full well that she could lose control. I explained the situation and what happened, how I was the one who nearly caused a fire and scared her, then chose to reassure her by putting myself in danger. My choice, my fault. But Gray didn't see it the same way.
"Bull. Shit. She didn't heal you correctly on purpose. A power like hers shouldn't be restricted from healing someone right the first time." Gray retorted, still angry and unbelieving.
"She was nervous and scared, she just needs time." I defended, still a hundred percent sure that he intentions were pure, that she only needed help to control her powers.
"I've warned you about her before, but now I can't overlook this." His best friend said as he turned to walk away, "That girl is gonna get you killed."
"What are you gonna do?" I demanded.
"I'm gonna fix this."
That was two days ago and something had yet to happen, however I was still nervous for what was to come. Gray refused to talk to him, but still watched over him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. All of our friends now knew that Natsu could no longer move his right hand, but they do not know the reason why, Gray had kept that from them. They would ask both of us for answers but we would not give any. I could tell that they were frustrated, Erza and Juvia especially, but I refused to give away Lucy, Gray's reason to not telling I wasn't so sure.
However as the days went on I noticed something happened painstakingly slowly: the paralysis was spreading up my right arm. I first noticed it the third morning, when I could no longer feel the part of my body under my elbow, by the next day it was up to the midsection of my bicep. I did tell Gray, or anyone else for that matter. I don't know what was going on and I wouldn't admit it, not even to myself, but I was afraid of what would happen when it reached beyond my arm.
Yet I still refused to become angry with Lucy, for I knew that she did not cause this on purpose, nor mean any ill will.
Classes were about to end for the day, four days since Lucy once again disappeared, when the overhead com sounded and interrupted class.
"Would Natsu Dragneel please report to the security office. That's Natsu Dragneel to the security office."
Immediately all heads turned towards his seat, some ooh'd and others looked on in concern. I ignored their comments and made my way out of class, grabbing my stuff since I probably wasn't going to be back before class ended.
Upon arrival to the security office I saw a figure waiting outside the door as well sitting on one of the waiting chairs. Gray. Seeing me approach the office Gray stood up, looking oddly thrilled for being at ends with me.
"Natsu, glad you could make it." Gray said in a near excited voice.
"What is this about Gray?" I questioned as I came to a stop in front of him. Gray smiled and slapped his hands over my back.
"I found someone who can help you." Gray told me, patting my back.
Just then the door to the security office opened, Gray stepped out the way to reveal that which he thought could save me. However, out stepped the one person whom he had sworn revenge upon for all that she had done, Dr. Marson.
"Natsu, let me introduce Secret Service Agent Danielle-"
"Marson." I finished for him. Marson stepped out of the office and into the hallway, her usual sickly sweet smile displayed on her face. Her faithful lackey followed her out and stood at her back, his expression dull as ever.
"Well Mr. Dragneel, I've been told that my subject has brought harm to you." She stated in a forthright voice, her tone as if this was our first meeting. Gray walked up behind me and patted my shoulder, but I did not feel it, smiling reassuringly at me. I looked between them, horrified, realizing that she was the help that he had required.
"Everything is gonna be okay Natsu. Agent Marson knows how to reverse the effects of what happened to you." The ice mutant said confidently. Her lackey approached me, a needle in his hand: a sleeping agent.
"No Gray you don't understand! Marson is-" Too late, I was injected with a knockout drug, losing my grip on consciousness.
The last thing I saw what they helpful smile of my best friend, and the sadistic grin of my arch nemesis.
When I came to I had no idea where I was, or how much time had passed, all I saw was white and silver walls along with about a dozen technical machines. I, myself, was laying flat down on a titanium table, strapped down to it with metal restraints. I tried o turn my head to get a better look of the room, but I found that my head had been restricted as well.
"Well look who's up." A cheerful light voice sounded from the other side of the room. I could easily determine that voice as Marson's, which means I was in her laboratory.
'Does that mean Lucy's here as well?' I wondered as I continuously tried to look around.
"Are you sure you'll be able to cure his paralysis?" Gray's voice sounded from the same direction as hers. My eyes widened and I tried to shout out and call for him, but found that I could not make a sound, my voice was too strained and swelled, but I don't remember what from.
"Of course we can. However, it is rather serious, two days is not enough time, you'll have to wait longer." Dr. Marson's voice said to who he guessed was Gray.
Two days? Has he been here for forty eight hours? If so, he had no recollection of what had happened in that time, except for the swelling of his throat and horrible throb of his skull.
"I'm trusting him o you." Gray said, followed by the sound of foot steps walking away from the room. I tried again to call out to him, to warn him, but I could barely croak out his name. Once the sound of the door closing ended, I heard the sound of heals heading over to my table, and saw the body of Dr. Marson looming over.
"My my, looks like someone went against their word." She said with a lace of poison. Taking out a scalpel, she tore open what appeared to be a healing wound on my left arm. I screamed out in pain as she cut through my skin.
Looks like I was her new subject.
I wasn't sure how many hours passed by since I had woken up, but I figured it was around night time since everyone looked to be leaving the laboratory. I was transferred from my table to a wheelchair, my arms still strapped down and restrained, this time with leather, but I was too tired to bother trying to escape. Be it a guard or nurse, a man came pushed my wheelchair out of the lab and over to what looked like a prison ward. From his chair he could see into each on of the cages, some were empty, while others had sick and tortured looking animals in them. As I passed one cell, different from the others in both side and wall material, I saw a small girl sitting by herself on the floor, chains from above on the ceiling kept her arms suspended above her, while chains on the ground kept her feet down. Another line of chains connected with a large and thick brace around her neck kept her head down, forbidding her from looking up.
Lucy sat there on the ground of a solitary confinement cell, chained by every limb, looking hopeless. Her gloomy demeanor have off a sense of despair as she continuously looked down blankly at a single spot on the floor.
Finally seeing Lucy again after only six days just to discover that she had been living in suffrage and chains pulled at his heartstrings and punched me in the gut. I tried to call out for her, but just as it had with Gray, my voice came out barely more than a whimper.
"Lucy..." I whispered desperately, but was already being pushed past her cell and out of her sight. However, at the last moment that he had her in view, Lucy looked up and our eyes connected for just the briefest second. I could see the pure shock in her eyes as I passed, she obviously had never expected to see me here.
The view of Lucy looking so blank and helpless burned a fire in my belly, and created a roaring fire of rage in my blood as it boiled over. I wouldn't allow anyone to lay a hand in my Lucy any longer.
I swore right then and there that I would get out of this place, and would break us out of here, and free Lucy from her torment.
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Hey guys, sorry the update took so long to get her, I was visiting family and didn't have much time to write. Hope y'all liked the new chapter. More on the way!
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