The moment Lucy's arm dropped Natsu was moving. His fists lit up with fire as Zeref moved to get out of the way. Lucy watched it all from the sidelines, torn between getting involved and fear of hurting the man she had come to adore. Lucy knew that she should be helping Natsu, but she seemed frozen to the spot, watching as the two fought each other with increasing intensity. Her eyes closed for a moment as she debated inwardly what to do. She didn't want to hurt Zeref, but she didn't want Natsu to be hurt either. Mostly she didn't want to watch Zeref fall into the darkness that had claimed him four hundred years ago. She shivered at the thought and opened her eyes to find Natsu on the ground, watching as Zeref began the complex motions to summon a Death Pillar. Without hesitation Lucy grabbed her keys, summoning Loke to her.

As if reading her thoughts Loke launched himself at Zeref, leaving Lucy free to begin the countering the Death Pillar with the Pillar of Life. The two magics clashed against each other, creating an explosion that rocked the building. Lucy grabbed her whip this time, determined not to leave Natsu and Loke to fight Zeref alone, but Loke turned, shaking his head at her.

"Don't get involved," He said quietly before turning his attention back to the dark mage.

Lucy fumed inwardly, feeling helpless as she watched the three duke it out. Natsu's fist collided with Zeref's jaw once more and Lucy sighed. Two on one was no longer a fair fight, though Zeref did seem to be holding his own against them. With a wave of his key, Lucy dismissed Loke, knowing that now Natsu was fired up the Lion spirit would only be getting in his way.

Zeref watched as Lucy struggled with an inward debate. Part of him felt bad for making her go through this, but the other part was too angry with her to care. Why couldn't she see that he was doing all of this to keep his magic from killing her? He fought Natsu with only half of his attention on the dragon slayer, causing the pinkette to growl in frustration.

"Pay attention," Natsu snapped, landing a direct hit with his Fire Dragon Claw attack.

Zeref sighed and focused once more on his little brother, wondering how long it would take before Natsu decided to really get serious. Lucy, he could tell, was already serious. And seriously angry. The look on her face sent shivers of fear down his spine and he was sure that if she had the power that Natsu did he would already be on the ground waiting for his life to end.

"Dammit, I told you to pay attention," Nastu yelled, hitting Zeref so hard that the dark-haired mage went flying backwards, hitting the wall with a loud thud.

Zeref grinned as he stood, brushing himself off, "Glad to see that you're starting to take this seriously, Natsu."

Lucy shivered as Zeref's aura darkened further. She realized what Zeref was doing just as Natsu charged at him, causing her to gasp out loud. Her heart twisted in her chest and tears filled her eyes. She couldn't believe that Zeref would go so far just to be killed. She couldn't decide if this was a deliberate decision on his part or just an instant reaction from years of longing for death to claim him.

"Zeref, no," Lucy whispered as she watched Natsu's eyes narrow dangerously, scales beginning to form on the side of his face. "You can't really want this."

Zeref turned, smiling gently at her.

"Don't worry, Lucy," He whispered before turning back to Natsu. "Are you ready to complete the job you were created for, Natsu?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow, annoyed at the black-haired mage.

"I'm ready to kill you, if that's what you mean?" He growled, trying to ignore the tears he could smell coming from behind him.

Lucy shouldn't have been there, part of him knew that with certainty. Sending Lucy to kill her lover was probably the cruelest thing that their master could have done. Natsu understood that he'd sent her in hopes that she would be about to persuade Zeref to stop his mad obsession, but that clearly wasn't going to be the case. Now it was a battle and Natsu could sense Lucy's hesitation. No one wants to harm the one they love and Lucy was no exception to that.

"Lucy, you should get out of here," He barked at the blonde, who was still frozen to the spot.

"I'm not leaving you," Lucy answered. "This is my mess and I'm going to help you clean it up."

"There's nothing you can do."

Lucy sniffed but he could sense her holding her ground as Zeref began another spell.

Lucy's eyes widened the moment she realized what Zeref was casting. Two thoughts hit her simultaneously - the first being that Natsu would never survive that blast, the second being that even if she'd known the counter spell to it she didn't have enough magical energy to cast it. Lucy did the only thing she could think to do at the moment, she threw herself in front of Natsu, shielding him from the Death Orb Zeref was casting.

Zeref saw Lucy's form a moment too late, pulling back to stop the spell that had already left his hands and was now hurtling toward his beloved.

Natsu's eyes widened in shocked the moment he realized who was standing in front of him. She glowed brighter than she'd ever shone before, even when she used Urano Metria. In fact, compared to this, Urano Metria might as well have been a pinpoint of light.

"Lucy, get out of the way," He yelled, running toward her.

She turned, smiling sadly, "It's okay, Natsu. I'm going to save both of you."

Tears filled his eyes as he reached for her just as the spell hit.

AN: OH NO! What's going to happen to Lucy!? I hate my brain T.T

*Hides from the reviewers* Sorry for the cliffy. Please don't hate me for the end of this chapter.