"Is everyone ok?" I asked, slowly sitting up. We were somehow back in the medical room at Fairy Tail. How long have I been out? I was a little disappointed. I never got to say goodbye to Mrs. Spetto and the others. Natsu was on the edge of the bed, holding my hand. I didn't feel or see any cuts on my body, probably thanks to Wendy, although I did still feel drained. Natsu carefully pushed my shoulders back down, and I flinched. My shoulder was killing me for some reason.
"You got hit really hard," he said. I could see he was still angry in the way his mouth was set and how he was almost glaring at me. I was about to apologize when the medical room's door slammed open. Jet rushed in carrying Levy, with Droy, Wendy, and Charle following close behind.
"Levy-chan!" I gasped.
"She was knocked out by the guys we were fighting. She got hurt really bad on her shoulder!" Droy sobbed. Natsu moved over to hover beside her bed. When nobody was looking, I rolled to the side of the bed, putting all my weight on my left shoulder. Sharp pain was stabbing through me, although it was nothing compared to the pain I'd been in after fighting Cleo. I bit my tongue to keep from making a sound.
"Levy, I'm sorry!" Jet cried.
"Guys, I'm completely fine," Levy said, leaning against the headboard.
"LEVY!" her team shrieked, squishing her in a group hug. I stood up unsteadily and staggered to the bathroom. Nobody saw me leave. Wendy busied herself checking Levy over to see if she needed any healing, while Natsu talked to Jet and Droy about who the bandits were.
"This is weird. I know I was bleeding from this shoulder earlier when I first got hit, but now there isn't even a mark…" Levy said confusedly. The door to the bathroom clicked quietly behind me. I wasn't very surprised when I pulled down the neck of my shirt and saw a giant gash in my shoulder. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but there were brown flakes of dried blood covering it and the inside of my shirt. How had it not stained the white fabric? Hissing in pain, I poured some water onto my hand and tried to clean up the wound a little. I accidently pressed too hard and made it start bleeding again. I grabbed the hand towel hanging beside the sink and held it over my wound. I didn't want anyone to know about this.
Should I try to reverse the curse? Didn't I want to be able to take everyone's pain away?Yeah, but you didn't want to have it all yourself, the rational part of my brain thought. Would it be better for Fairy Tail if I just continued to feel their pain for them? We'd be able to help more people, and nobody would get seriously hurt anymore. Yeah, nobody but you. Should I sacrifice myself for the good of the guild? Lucy, you and everyone else know you're a wimp when it comes to pain. You couldn't make it one week with the curse. Shut up!
"Lucy?" Natsu called, knocking on the door. I jumped. Tell him! He can make this all better. He can help! Don't tell him! It's my fault he was hurt, so I should be punished for it. This isn't about punishment, this is about LIVING! He'll only get angry and hunt down Cleo and get himself hurt. HE SHOULD GET ANGRY AT CLEO. CLEO IS THE ONE THAT DID THIS TO YOU. He can help make the pain go away! If he gets hurt, he can also make me feel even more pain!
"Lucy? Come out here! You should be lying down!" Natsu said when I took too long to answer, knocking a little harder. I wiped my shoulder with the towel, smearing more blood over it. Damn. Too late to fix it now. I shoved the towel in the cabinet, hoping nobody would notice it if someone came in. I pulled my shirt back up and walked into the room. I had to make this quick, or the blood would stain my shirt and give everything away. If only there had been some bandages in there!
"I have to go!" I said, rushing underneath Natsu's outstretched arm and to the door, grabbing my belt with my keys on it on the way out. I tried to go straight for the guild door, but Erza and Gray cornered me halfway there.
"Lucy! Are you feeling ok?" Gray asked.
"You shouldn't be standing. You are still too weak. Go back and lay down!" Erza insisted, trying to guide me back to the medical room. I twisted out of her grasp before she could touch my shoulder and danced ahead a few steps.
"I'm fine guys, don't worry! I thought I'd sleep better at home, and there were some things I had to do, so I'll see you!" I said, running outside before anyone else could stop me or see the pain on my face. Whatever had hit Levy was strong. I made it home in record time, where I collapsed onto my bed, breathing hard. The warm even air breezed in through my window.
I saw my gifts had been cleaned up and put back in the bag. My suitcase and the box holding the star certificate were placed neatly on the floor beside my desk. The shoebox-sized package Mrs. Spetto had given me was on my chair. My shoulder was on fire when I tried to get up to grab the gift. I stayed where I was instead, staring up at my ceiling.
What am I going to do now?
Natsu's PoV
Lucy ran straight past me. I turned to face Wendy and team Shadow Gear. They looked just as confused as me.
"Lucy-san shouldn't be moving around too much," Wendy said. "I wasn't completely done healing her."
"What happened to Lucy? Erza questioned, barging into the room.
"What'd you do to her?" Gray asked me.
"You accusin' me of somthin?" I asked, butting heads with him.
"You were the last one to see her, flame brain," Gray said, shoving back against me.
"Ice Princess!"
"STOP!" Erza commanded, tearing us away from each other forcefully. "We need to figure out what is going on with Lucy."
Gray and I shivered in fear from Erza, and then nodded. We started walking around the room, trying to find some clue as to why the blond took off like that.
"She ran out like there were bunches of fished in front of her!" Happy said, drooling slightly.
"She looked like she was afraid…" Levy added.
I stepped into the bathroom Lucy had been in not five minutes ago and looked around. Nothing seemed weird, besides the cabinet door. It was sticking out, like there was something keeping it from shutting all the way. It squeaked when I opened it. A towel fell out. I flipped it over and peered at the red side. Was this blood? It smelled like Lucy. I held it up for the others to see in the main room. They all gasped.
"Wendy, I thought you healed her?" Erza said. Wendy nodded with big eyes.
"I did! I wasn't finished, but all of her wounds were gone! That had to have happened after I finished…" she trailed off. We all stared at the bed Lucy had been sitting in before she left.
"You know, before she passed out, I heard her say 'he granted my wish' or something like that. Do you think that had anything to do with this?" Gray asked. Erza started pacing.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go and ask her what wrong!" I said. Erza stopped me from leaving with a glare.
"She'll deny everything, unless we have some kind of proof. Do any of you find it weird that after Lucy got hit with that attack from Cleo, we all felt fine? And when we got back, there weren't any injuries on us, but Lucy looked like she'd just been through Hell and back?"
"And earlier, I got hurt, but when we got back here there was nothing wrong with my shoulder," Levy inputted.
"I feel bad doing this, in case it works, but there's only one way to test what we're all thinking," Gray said, making a fist on top of his open palm. "Ice Make: Cannon!"
Of course, this idiot had to aim straight at me. I jumped out of the way in plenty of time to miss the ice. The giant cannon ball flew right past me and hit a bed on the other side of the room, crumbling it.
"Why'd you do that?" I asked, setting my fist on fire. If this guy wanted a fight, I'd give him one.
"Stupid! I was trying to see if you'd get hurt!" Gray roared, charging at me.
"Of course I wouldn't get hurt by some puny attack like that!" I yelled.
"Stop!" Erza said again, stepping between us. We skidded to a halt before hitting her. "Gray was going somewhere with this. Natsu, hold still." She flashed into her Fire Empress Armor and slashed at my arm with her sword. It wasn't deep, but it left a long scratch. Little dot of blood formed on my skin, but I didn't feel anything.
"Why'd I have to be the test dummy?" I groaned.
"She's your girlfriend, dummy," Gray said. He laughed at my expression.
"She's your girlfriend too! And so is Erza! She's all our friends, not just mine."
Gray face-palmed.
"Hush," Erza said. We stared at my arm, where the cut slowly faded away until my skin was smooth and looked normal again.
"Did you feel that?" Gray asked. I shook my head.
"Dammit. Let's go visit Lucy and see if it's on her now," Erza said, leading the way out of the room. Team Shadow Gear stared after us.
"Don't tell anyone about this," Gray said over his shoulder, shutting the door behind us.
Hold on, Lucy. We're on our way.
Good morning/ afternoon/ evening/ night Fairies! I'm in a really good mood and I have a lot ready, so multiple chapters today! Make sure you check back every once in a while! I'm planning on 2 or 3 chapters today, so I hope you enjoy!