Thank you all SO SO SO SO SO SO SO much for your reviews last chapter! I was grinning so madly while reading them, I'm telling you. :D Oh, and I just finished Fairy Tail (anime)! YAYYYYYY! :D :D :D Now I'm gonna catch up with the manga before the show starts airing again! :D Yay! :D I love this show so much; I can't wait for it to come back! :D
Anyways, this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one, but if all goes as planned, the next chapter (and most likely the final chapter) will be longer than this. But then again, I shouldn't make any promises, considering how sporadic and crazy I can be when it comes to writing. :)
Again, thank you all SO much for your reviews! You don't know how much your support means to me! :D Without further adieu, onto chapter 2! :D
Title: The Dragon's Dungeon
Summary: Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail infiltrate a Dark Guild to save Natsu, who was captured while taking a solo job with Happy.
About five minutes later found Lucy sitting, leaning her back against the wall, keeping guard by the light of one of the soldier's torches. Sitting beside her was Natsu, dead to the world, his heavy head taking residence on her shoulder. He was out. She doubted an entire stampede of soldiers would be enough to wake him now.
Lucy watched him with concern, desperately praying that no other soldiers would head down these tunnels, because Lucy knew there was no way Natsu would be ready to move if they did. And even if he was, they would be surrounded by the soldiers in this one-way tunnel, and Lucy knew there was no way she could fight through them on her own.
"...I just really hope that was the last of them," Lucy whispered to herself, casting her gaze down the tunnel briefly before returning it to her unconscious friend. She smoothed back his sweat-damp hair, feeling his forehead.
Fever.
She sighed heavily. "Why are you always doing this to yourself, Natsu?" she asked him pointlessly, absentmindedly stroking his hair. "You know we don't always need you to protect us, and yet…"
His willingness to throw his own life on the line to protect his friends was almost...terrifying, actually. Yes, it was terrifying how willing he was to put himself in harm's way to save the people he cared about, even when they didn't need saving.
But on the other hand...it was endearing.
She smiled softly, resting her head against his. "What am I going to do with you?" she murmured, closing her eyes.
Despite the looming danger that lurked all about them, Lucy still found herself in a state of calm and peace. Finding Natsu alive had taken a large weight off her chest.
Roughly three weeks ago, Happy had charged into Fairy Tail, his wings (and consciousness) disappearing as soon as he arrived; his magic power had entirely run out. When the Exceed finally regained consciousness, he'd told them that he'd left Natsu in the heat of battle to return to Fairy Tail for reinforcements.
The cat had been devastated. From the moment he'd gotten to Fairy Tail up to the minute they'd left on Natsu's rescue mission, Happy hadn't stopped blaming himself.
"I should have stayed with him!" Happy had sobbed, burying his face in his paws. "I know h-he told me to leave, but I d-didn't have to listen to him! He needed me and I-I left him!"
"He was protecting you," Lucy had replied, trying to comfort her small friend as best she could. "You know he wouldn't have forgiven himself if he let something happen to you. You know how he is. Stop blaming yourself. We're going to save Natsu."
After weeks of searching and following any clues Happy could give them, they'd finally tracked down the cultripes; a guild full of infamous wizards with an enormous grudge against Fairy Tail.
While the rest of Fairy Tail took the soldiers above ground, Lucy had been given the solemn duty of going underground, into the dungeons to locate and free Natsu.
But those three weeks of not knowing where he was or whether or not he was alright were excruciating. Lucy and the rest of the guild could hardly bare it.
"I'm just really glad you're alive, Natsu," Lucy said, and she sighed. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't imagine a world without the cheerful, transportation-sick Dragon Slayer. It wouldn't be the same.
Even so, the longer they sat there in the torch-lit tunnel, the more wary Lucy became. She feared that, any moment, soldiers would leap out of the shadows and attack her when she was least expecting it.
Finally, after what she imagined was at least half an hour, Lucy could stand it no longer. She gently shook Natsu's shoulder, hoping he'd regained enough strength to stand. "Hey, Natsu," she whispered, "I hate doing this, but if you're ready, we have to move now."
Natsu's eyes flickered open, and he looked up to meet her gaze, dark rings beneath his eyes. Lucy bit her lip; he really didn't look good…
"...Y-Yeah, I think I'm good now," Natsu said, but he said it as though to convince himself. As much as Lucy wished she could let him rest, she knew they were as good as dead if the enemies found them in this state.
"Okay," Lucy agreed, pulling his arm around her neck again. "On three, alright? One...two...three."
She pulled him up, did her best not to jostle his broken leg, and they continued down the tunnel once more.
This stupid tunnel never ENDS… Lucy thought to herself. Man, if she thought the journey down the tunnel was a long, suspense-filled one, it looked like a walk in the part compared to the journey up the tunnel. Every single little noise put her on edge, beit a drop of water falling from the ceiling to the floor, the crackling of their torch, or, heck, even her own footsteps.
This place was giving her serious hysteria and claustrophobia.
"How you doin', Natsu?" Lucy asked her partner after a while of walking.
It took him a long time before he answered. "...I'm seeing stars…"
Lucy frowned. That wasn't good.
"That's a good sign...right?" Natsu asked.
"No, that's usually not a good thing, Natsu," Lucy told him, pulling his arm further around her neck to keep him from falling.
"...Hey, Lucy...I'm dizzy…"
"I know," Lucy said, concerned again; she remembered the dry blood she'd seen crusting on his head earlier. She really should have checked for any head wounds while he was resting earlier. "We're almost there."
She waited, forcing herself onwards, until she realized Natsu's weight against her was slowly getting heavier. "Hey, are you falling asleep on me?"
Natsu's eyes snapped open. "No."
It didn't take a genius to realize he was lying. "It's okay," Lucy said understandingly, "I know you're exhausted, but we've gotta get clear of this tunnel first before you can sleep, alright?"
Natsu looked down with a small nod, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Just keep talking to me, alright?" Lucy prompted. "If you're talking, it won't be nearly as easy to fall asleep. It doesn't have to be anything special, just small talk, you know?"
Natsu nodded. "M'kay...d-do you come here often?"
Lucy groaned and sighed simultaneously. "An entire world of small talk and you come up with that?"
"...Sorry…"
"Don't worry about it." A beat. "And just so we're clear, I do not come here often."
Natsu laughed hoarsely, but it turned into painful-sounding dry coughs. Lucy halted for a moment, let him catch his breath, and then, they kept on down the tunnel.
"...Hey, Natsu," Lucy said after a while of walking in silence, "these guys who kidnapped you, what did they want? I mean, it's obvious they're mad at Fairy Tail for some reason, but...I don't understand why. None of us do."
"It's...stupid," Natsu replied. "They're just some...idiots who were mad 'cause we won the Grand Magic Games. They'd been...cheering for Raven Tail."
Lucy stopped dead in her tracks, clenched her teeth and growled lowly. Natsu blinked, watching her uncertainly.
"...Lucy…?"
Lucy's hand around the torch tightened, her knuckles going white. "They went through all this," she said, "...No, made you go through all this, because the team they were routing for lost."
"I said it was stupi-"
"It's not stupid, Natsu. It's...it's…it's wrong." She didn't quite know what word she was looking for to describe it, but wrong sounded pretty accurate for the time being.
She was so filled with anger and hatred towards the guild who kidnapped her best friend she felt literally sick. How dare they? The Dark Guild had no right to hurt Natsu. No right to hurt anybody, and yet…she couldn't believe it. How could people be so...so...cruel?
"Lucy, please don't cry."
She was startled out of her stupor by Natsu's low, gentle voice, and she realized after a moment that yes, she did have tears streaming down her cheeks. She hadn't thought it was possible to cry without being aware of it until now.
"I'm okay," said Lucy (she just hoped he wouldn't be able to tell she was lying). She reached up, brushing away her tears with shaking fingers. The look he gave her was full of disbelief; he wasn't buying her pitiful lie. "I really am okay, Natsu," Lucy insisted.
"...Okay, if you say so," said Natsu. "Just...please don't cry about this anymore, Lucy. I…" He looked away thoughtfully, trying to contemplate his emotions. "...I don't like it when you cry. It...it makes me feel sad, too."
Lucy sighed. "You're sweet, Natsu," she said, wiping away the last of her tears with resolve. "Okay, I won't cry anymore."
He smiled, weakly but honestly, and they continued on their way.
…
Unfortunately, they weren't able to make it very far.
"I'm sorry, Lucy," Natsu panted; he was sitting on the ground, leaning against the stone wall, holding their lit torch. Lucy knelt in front of him, lips pressed together, inspecting Natsu's head.
"It's alright," said Lucy, "don't apologize. I really should've checked on this sooner…" She'd found the source of the blood. A somewhat large gash, barely scabbed over, marked Natsu's hairline. She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it earlier.
"You've probably got a concussion, or at least a mild one," Lucy said, leaning back on the balls of her feet. "All this dragging you around probably hasn't helped…"
Natsu waved his hand briefly before letting it drop back to the ground at his side. "Don't worry 'bout it," he said. He looked down the dark passageway that lay ahead with a perplexed frown. "How long is this thing, anyway?"
"I don't know," Lucy admitted, following his gaze. "It took me a long time to get down this far, and I was running the whole way. We're barely walking now."
Natsu glanced down at his leg, bounded by Lucy's makeshift bandage. "Sorry."
"I just said don't apologize," Lucy said sharply, and then she clicked her tongue, looking over Natsu's gash again. "What did they do to you…?" she whispered under her breath.
She hadn't intended for Natsu to hear her, but he did. "Clubbed me, or somethin', I think," Natsu slurred. "M'not really sure. I think I sucker-punched one...made 'em angry...it's all really hazy."
I bet, thought Lucy, looking at the gash again. "Are you seeing double or anything?" she asked.
"Not now," answered Natsu, "but sometimes. When we're walking."
"You remember who you are, right?" Lucy asked, trying to determine just how badly banged up his head was. "Your name? Where we are? Who I am?"
Natsu frowned. "...Um, yeah," he said. And then, with such innocence she just couldn't be angry with him, "Do you?"
"Ack." She whacked him lightly on the shoulder, feigning offense. "Of course I do, idiot," she said. "I was just asking you to make sure your head isn't messed up."
"And...my head's not messed up?"
Not from a concussion, at least. "Yeah, you're fine," Lucy said.
Natsu blinked, and then leaned his head back against the wall, shutting his eyes. "I don't feel fine."
"Yeah, probably not," Lucy said with a sigh. "Your life's not in danger is what I mean. Once we get you to Wendy, I'm sure you'll feel a lot better."
"Yeah...you're right…" He cracked his eyes open again, glancing down the corridor. "So...it's time to move again, right?"
Lucy nodded. "I really wish I could summon Capricorn or Taurus," she said dolefully, glancing down at the Celestial keys she couldn't use without draining her energy. "They could just carry you."
"Yeah...but no use gettin' upset about it," said Natsu. "It's not your fault. We'll make it. Don't worry."
Lucy smiled softly. "You're right," she said, slinging his arm over her shoulder again. "Ready?"
"Ready."