Lucy's PoV
"NATSU!" I screamed. My hand reached down to touch his face, but he disintegrated in my arms before I could. He left behind nothing but ash. With nothing to hold, my empty arms crossed over my burning chest.
"You killed him," the voice in my head whispered. "You killed him. It's your fault. You killed him. You killed him."
"It was an accident," I sobbed. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. None of it should have happened!"
"LUCY!" Someone was grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. I curled in on myself and cried freely, ignoring whoever it was. Can't they see I'm in pain? Why can't they leave me alone for once?
"LUCY!" they yelled even louder. The monster feeling inside me slid up again, but I shoved it to the side.
Just go away. I don't want you here right now, I thought to it.
"LUCE, wake up!" Only one person calls me Luce, and he's gone now. I opened my eyes finally; about to smack the hell out of whomever was there.
I opened my eyes. It was just a dream. Natsu hugged me to him, trying to calm me down. Natsu is here. He's here, and he's alive, holding me.
Good thing nobody else was in here, or else I would have never heard the end of why I was clutching his scarf and vest for dear life. I had to be sure he was actually there.
"Happy came in to wake you up. He said you were acting weird so he came and got me," he said quietly. I nodded and scrubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand. Stupid, worthless tears.
"What did you dream about?" he asked. "Was it-"
"Alright, let's get going!" I said, cutting him off. I didn't want to hear what he was going to say. Whatever he thought my nightmare was about, he was wrong. There's no way he'd ever think that the tears in my eyes are because of him.
I crawled out the tent flap and into the bright morning, away from a confused and slightly hurt Natsu. Erza was cooking in a giant pot over a fire that I assumed Natsu made before he came and got me. Gray was talking to Loke over at the logs we set up as benches yesterday- well, two days ago. Happy was flying over Erza, trying to sneak a fish away from her.
"Why didn't we stay in a hotel again?" I grumbled, walking over to Erza.
"Because there aren't any near Lunar Mountain," Erza answered. The headache that's been with me constantly returned, and I moved to sit with the boys. I wasn't worried about it, although the others were. I made the mistake of telling them about it on our way here. Everyone panicked and made me sit down until it went away. Eventually, I just lied to them so we could keep going.
"Do you want to train today?" Loke asked.
"Train?"
"Your new abilities. I think it would be best if you could learn to control them before we meet the dragon." I nodded eagerly. Anything to get my mind off that horrible dream.
"Great. Capricorn and I will be your teachers then."
Gray butted his shoulder against mine. "You're already plenty strong without the training. I bet Natsu will be begging to fight you pretty soo—"
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TOUCHING LUCY?" Natsu yelled, running full speed and punching Gray in the jaw. I fell to the side in order to not be caught up in the middle of the fighting. Loke and I rolled our eyes at our childish friends.
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"You have to become one with the energy inside of you," Capricorn said for the thousandth time.
"You have to feel the energy to be able to control it," Loke said for the millionth time.
We've been working on this for hours. I was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the circle of burnt trees and grass Draco had created last night, while the others were sitting against the rocks a little ways away. My frustration was making me feel like slapping my spirits upside the head.
"You should be feeling calm. That is the way to control these-," Loke started saying.
"I might feel calm if you would stop repeating the same things over and over!" I snapped. I felt the monster stir inside me, wanting to come out and deal with this.
The spirits didn't look bothered by my outburst.
"Just relax. We will leave you on your own for a minute," Capricorn said. That walked over to my friends and started talking to them. I was too far away to hear what they were saying.
Just stay calm. Connect with the power inside of me. Yeah, easier said than done. I tried to picture everything in my head. The power was a swirling black cloud deep in my gut. Flashes of light streaked through it. It was like lightning shattering a dark night. My mind and soul were little golden orbs, floating around it helplessly, trying to figure out how to communicate with it. The monster refused to cooperate. An idea suddenly struck me. Keeping one eye closed, I drew out my keys.
"Gate of the Twins, I summon thee: Gemini!" I said quietly. The little blue twins popped out of nowhere. "Do you remember what Klein looks like?" They nodded in unison. "Are we as strong as him?" Another nod. Without me having to tell them, they turned into the red haired twin again.
The monster twitched just seeing him. Little black tendrils snaked out of the black mass inside me, coming slightly closer to my mind and soul.
"His name is Natsu, isn't it?" I saw Natsu's head turn my direction at hearing his name. "That makes it easier. We'll know who to kill now," Gemini-Klein said. Loke and Capricorn held back the others, keeping them from saving me. They didn't realize that this was just Gemini. Even though I knew it was just a replica of the real person, I was still furious hearing the words.
"Erza, Gray, Happy. We will hunt down all of them and kill them. And it will be all your fault."
Clouds covered the sun. I felt like I was being stabbed when the monster connected with my soul and mind. Cold fear washed over me. This wasn't right. This monster wasn't the energy Loke was talking about. I felt the same as the other night! I felt like I was being eaten alive!
I curled into myself on the ground, fighting off the monster. There was too much pain for me to look up and see what the others were doing. I had to focus. I can't lose control again. I have to be strong. I have to figure this out!
I thought of my mom's face. I remembered her and Papa hugging me, saying they were proud and they loved me. Just as my mind was about to be possessed with anger, a blinding light flashed through the clearing. My pain was erased. I hesitantly sat up and looked around. Everything looked normal. Erza and the others stopped struggling when they saw me. Gemini returned o their original forms and floated behind me.
"We're sorry," they said, apologizing for the pain they knew I felt and their/ Klein's words. The other keys flew from the pouch again and circled my head. Loke and Capricorn joined the rest of the spirits behind me. Just like last night, they stepped inside my body. But this time, I could hear them.
"Good job, Lucy!"they all cheered.
What had I connected with? What did I do to make this happen, but to gain control of it? How was I going to do this again if I didn't know how I did it this time?
I carefully walked over to my worried and shocked friends.
"I challenge all of you. I want to see how strong I am compared to you guys," I said. My voice was combined with everyone else's. I did sound scary. I wonder what everyone else saw right now. What did I look like? Were my eyes red like last time?
"You're going down!"Natsu screeched, jumping to his feet. The others stood hesitantly.
"No going easy on me," I said. They nodded. Did I gain a crap ton of confidence with the magic boost? Usually I'd be begging my friends to not kill me!
Erza changed into her Flight Armor. My friends circled me. Natsu was the first to attack.
"The water jug," Aquarius yelled. It appeared in my hands. The stream of fire being shot at me dissipated in a cloud of smoke.
"Underground, Princess," Virgo said. I burrowed into the soil, just narrowly missing the icy cannon balls Gray sent at me.
"Sand blast!" Scorpio called. Warm sand surrounded me, keeping Gray's swords away from me. Erza used my last defense to hide herself as she pounced at me.
"Balance," Libra commanded coolly. The world tilted. As the gravel subsided, I saw my friends lying on the ground. Erza wobbled, but stayed up. With incredible speed, she started coming at me with her sword.
Without saying a word, Capricorn took over. I dodged every attack quickly. There was no time for me to plan anything of my own. My mind was filled with just dodging. We were stuck in this endless ballet until Erza requipped again into her Lightning Empress Armor. She gracefully flipped away for a moment, giving me a chance to glance around at my other opponents.
Natsu was back on his feet, cupping his hands to blow a giant blast of scorching fire at me. Gray had his fist connected to his palm, mumbling words to himself. They simultaneously sent their attacks going at the same time, without meaning to. Their faces were equally shocked when they saw how much power was coming at me all at once.
"Wool bomb!" Aries cried. Purple fluff created a wall in front of me, but it wasn't strong enough. Fire, ice, and lightning, all swirled together, hit me in the stomach, knocking me down. Cold sweat rolled down the back of my neck and I breathed hard, almost hyperventilating.
"You've done enough. We're coming out now," Loke warned. When they exited my body, I felt like an empty ragdoll. Natsu charged through the purple cloud and scooped me up into his arms. My stomach hurt, but not as much as I thought it should have.
"You guys went easy on me," I groaned. If they had attacked full strength, I'd be unconscious right now. On the other hand, I was thankful for that. When I stood up, Gray rushed to my side. He and Natsu each draped one of my arms around their shoulders. The three of us made out way back to the camp, followed by Erza and Happy. The rest of my spirits poofed away in colorful clouds of smoke.