I'm back with chapter 59! Please R&R and I shall see you at the bottom of the page.
POV: Lucy, Lucy
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
I remember clearly the day I left Crocus to come to Magnolia to stay with my grandfather while my father went away on business. In fact, I remember all the events leading up to that day.
For some time I had already known that my father would be going out on a yearlong business trip and I had presumed at the time that I would be staying home with the staff in the meantime. It wasn't until one day, a week before he would set off to his business trip, that he announced that I would be heading off to Magnolia to stay with my grandfather and cousin while he was away.
The news was so sudden to me that I didn't know how to respond. I just sat there, along with one of the housemaids who had been playing poker with me, and stared at him as if he had grown a second head. I should have felt excited, especially since it had been seven years since the last time I saw my relatives, but instead I felt uneasy. The unsteadiness within me has only grown within me as the days got closer to my departure.
My father had also shown great distress when he thought I wasn't looking. There were times in which I would catch him pacing restlessly in his office with his door slightly ajar. An expression of worry would constantly be on his face and even his smiles sometimes looked strained, but not once did he tell me that he would cancel the plans with my grandfather and just keep me here, or take me with him. This made absolutely no sense to me, but not once was I able to speak out and say that I didn't want to go, because secretly I did want to go to Magnolia.
It's the city in which my mother was born and grew up in and where she met my father and later got married in. It's the city in which I spent countless summers and Christmas's as a little girl where I had plenty of wonderful memories. It was also the city in which my mother passed away.
Before I knew it I was standing at the entrance of the terminal that would lead me into the plane that would take me to Magnolia. I could see my father watching me from a few feet away waving and saying how much he's miss me with his eyes. Not too long he was gone and I was sitting in my seat feeling all kinds of nervous and excitement.
A new adventure had now been set before me and I was ready to take it on. I was determined to make this trip an exciting one and to make as many good memories as I could. There would not be a single dull moment for me and I would surely make lots of friends along with catching up with my family. I would learn more about them along with things about my mother if I could.
But even if I had determination in my mind I could not shake off the image of my father's sad face. His eyes looked far more worried than I had ever seen them to be before. At the time I had thought that it was because he wasn't used to the idea of having me away from home.
It wasn't until later, however, that I realized that it had been far more than just that.
I had watched my grandfather's small form emerge from a nearby hallway with a grim expression etched on his ancient face. He didn't look all too happy, then again it was almost a rarity for him not to hold a scowl just like my older cousin, but somehow this irate expression seemed less humored than usual. His expression changed, however, once he stood on his seat and raised his glass up into the air catching everyone's full on attention.
Watching him lift his glass felt like I was watching a movie in slow motion as my stomach dropped with a forewarning feeling of something bad about to happen. At the same time my head was blasting with the sound of the all too familiar warning bells signaling that something was definitely wrong. I wanted to stand up in my seat and shout over to my grandfather and warn him, but a warm hand next to me clamped down on my wrist just as I could hear my grandfather's booming voice say, "Brats…" before I was spun around to face directly into Natsu's worried gaze. His arms were around me in an instant just as the first explosion resounded around the large room sending us flying.
My ears were ringing so loud that I couldn't figure out if it was because of the warning bells or the explosion. My whole body also ached from the fall and from a heavy object that was weighing me down keeping me somewhat pinned to the ground. It was suffocating me which didn't help since the air was quickly filling up with both dust and smoke making it even harder to breathe.
I tried to squirm my way out from under the heavy object but it seemed near impossible and it didn't take long for me to understand that there was just no way out. Just when I'm about to give up, I hear a groan above me and the object holding me down begins to move. It's then that I realize that the heavy thing is a body.
"Shit…" I hear then spit before coughing and groaning some more as he pushes himself off of me in slow painful movements. I open my eyes and the smoke around us has them stinging as I try to look up at my savior.
As the person lifts himself up off of me I can hear what sounds like chunks of rocks or so slipping down his back and landing on the ground beside us. Firelight caused from the explosion gives me little visibility as I instantly recognize Natsu's pink hair and I remember how he had pulled me towards him just as the explosion set off.
His whole backside seems to be covered in ash and his arms and forehead have small cuts that are slightly bleeding. His dark amber eyes survey the damage around us before looking down at me with worried eyes.
"Lucy, are you alright," he asks almost desperately while checking to see if I didn't hurt myself too badly, "Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine," I say as I try to sit up with his help, "What-what happened," I then ask while looking around myself and taking in the destruction of the cafeteria.
We've flown a few feet away from our seats along with a few of the other students who all seem to be recovering from the blast as well. Smoke billows from the small patches of fire within the room that seem to be growing quickly. A large hole in the wall shows where the blast came from as piece of the ceiling crumble down from the roof and hit the ground heavily. It doesn't seem that the roof will hold up much longer from the looks of it, and if we don't leave soon we could suffocate on the ever growing smoke.
Natsu's arm wraps around me gently and with his free hand he grabs his scarf and wipes my face just under my eyes. It's at that moment that I realize that I'm crying. Whether it's caused from the smoke, shock, or just plain defeat, I don't know, but somehow having Natsu beside me doesn't leave me feeling all too helpless. It's mostly because I know that he'll protect me no matter what the cost, even it is kind of useless by this point.
"Everything is going to be fine," Natsu murmurs, his voice sounding hoarse no doubt from the accumulating smoke.
His soft smile has me smiling back as I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his shoulder while I feel him embrace me back. I know that we should probably get out of here because of the growing fire and smoke around us along with the roof undoubtedly about to cave in on us, but I just don't want to move.
"We should probably get going," Natsu says while slowly letting go, "We need to see if the others are safe."
Nodding, I pull away to get up but he suddenly pulls me towards him making my face hit his chest hard. He's tensed up and alert with both his arms holding me securely to him. I can feel his head whipping around, seeming to try to look for something that still isn't visible yet to him. Even I start to feel uneasy as he continues to survey the area.
"Natsu, what's wrong," I ask, my voice an almost inaudible whisper.
"I don't know," comes his equally quiet reply, "But something just doesn't feel right."
"Oh how sweet," the ice cold voice catches us both off guard as Natsu immediately stands up while dragging me with him, "Look boys, you don't see something as beautiful as that."
I can feel Natsu's arms tighten protectively around me, but I'm far too shocked to feel anywhere near safe anymore. The warning bells from earlier have returned and my muscles have tensed up clearly showing the danger at hand. Mostly because I can recognize that cold voice anywhere.
"Erigor," comes Natsu's snarl as he stares off where a few figures are emerging from the darkness where the explosion came from.
The name itself is enough to leave me shaking in fear as I turn my head to find the Grim Reaper himself looking at us with cold eyes and a malevolent smile that sends chills down my spine. I can feel my heart rate quicken in fear as I clutch onto Natsu as memories of this man come racing towards me. The night of the Halloween party where we first met has me fearing the man all over again. Even if Natsu is with me I still can't help but feel completely defenseless.
"Why Miss Heartfelia, you're looking better than the last time we met," Erigor says sounding as if we were the best of friends as he leans on his scythe looking nonchalant.
"Leave her alone Erigor. It's me you want," Natsu says while pulling me behind him so that he stands between me and the members of Eisenwald who have also emerged from the darkness just like the last time I saw them.
They all laugh as Erigor's smile grows, "Usually in most cases that's true," he says while pushing himself off of his scythe, "But this time, on the other hand, we want her."
Erigor points his scythe in my direction causing Natsu to pull me closer to him. I clutch onto his back feeling my fear become a bit overwhelming as I watch the Eisenwald members over Natsu's shoulder. They all slowly start to surround us and I can tell that it won't be easy to escape. The thought makes me panic even more because the roof is still crumbling and the smoke and fire are still growing.
Seeing Erigor again reminds me of that night all too clearly and how scared I had been at the time. I'm still frightened, but not as much as I had been before because I know that Natsu is with me. The only thing I really fear other than our own safety is that Natsu might find out the truth about me. For all I know Erigor could open his mouth and say the truth, but there is a possibility that Natsu might not even believe him.
"You can't have her," Natsu yells, rage rolling off of him in waves.
I notice Erigor's eyes shift towards me before darting back towards Natsu as his dark smile remains on his pale face, "That's not up to you," he says right when I feel a hand clamp down over my mouth before I'm dragged down towards the ground and everything goes black.
I'm so evil! Putting another cliffhanger when the last chapter had a cliffhanger! I've already been scolded by many readers on my addiction to cliffhangers, but I just can't help it.
The main reason to the cliffhanger is that this chapter got a bit too long for me so I decided to break it into two parts so be expecting the next chapter soon.
Shout outs
Great thanks to all of my Fantastic Favorites...
- JG789
- mourningcloak
- FairyGirl0927
- Zaphod Scotsman
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- NaluKnight
To all of my Fabulous Followers...
- JG789
- mourningcloak
- FairyGirl0927
- Zaphod Scotsman
- Yellowligerrr
- fadedhues
- elyse. afsana
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And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...
- blazingpyro606 = Correct! Eisenwald created the explosion.
- Snavej = Don't die just yet, there is more suspense to come.
- FDsecretart = I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying my story, and I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. I just enjoy them too much.
- fanficlove2014 = I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed my chapter and hopefully I succeeded with that small Nalu moment in this chapter.
- CelestialMageLucy = Haha I know right, but then again it's kind of my fault that that happens.
- Splendora Lopez = Her grandmother will be mentioned again in one of the upcoming chapters, so look forward to that, and thank you. I'm happy to hear that my writing has you pleased.
- Fairy Tail 4lyf = I think we all do.
- RandomPandaLover = *hides behind chair* I'm sorry! And as for them finding out about Lucy, you'll just have to keep reading.
Well that's all the shout outs for today.
If you are enjoying my story so far please follow, favorite, and review - remember, reviews are a writers candy - and if you have any questions or ideas you'd like to see put into this story you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it in.
Until next time my lovelies.