I am such a jerk.

To lilpumpkingirl: You really think so? Thanks a lot, really. :) Glad you like him; he almost didn't make it into the story. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing.

To treeofsakuras: Yep. Natsu having to explain himself and "his" actions will definitely come up—just not in a way you might expect. I can't wait to go back to his POV, either. As much as I love writing Lucy, I really miss him. :'( And, well…a 'sad' ending is in the eyes of the beholder, yes? You'll have to see for yourself later.

To Justice Tokidoki: …Yes, I understand that the method defeating our little antagonist has gotten really convoluted now. I'm just trying to maintain a thing that will be explained (kind of) in this chapter. ^^; And it seems that most people are expecting Natsu to die after all this. Not that I find it surprising, heh…just…yeah, I don't know. With so many people expecting it, it kind of takes away from the surprise factor. *sigh* Well, thanks for reviewing and reviewing, as always. You're awesome. :)

To KIKR15: I'M SO SORRY IT'S HERE NOW PLEASE DON'T HURT ME. DX

To Zangetsu50: You actually did review this story before—at least a couple times. Even so, thanks for this review, and for rereading. ^^ And as for where the demon is hiding…perhaps. Is it really on Mount Hakobe? We'll just have to see.

Ch. 14: To Be Or Not To Be

The entire searching process would've gone much more quickly if we didn't have to sneak around everywhere like some fugitives, but it couldn't be helped since we were running around with a recognized (supposed) terrorist of the kingdom.

I would have been more against the idea of Natsu accompanying one of the search parties if it hadn't been for his arguments against us, but at the time, it had seemed irrefutable. I mean, coming out to search for a body-snatching demon while he could barely stay conscious half the time? That was just asking for failure to come knocking. Not to even mention the fact that it'd barely been half a day since he'd been sliced and skewered to near-death; there was no way he was in any shape to even be walking around after that.

That was when he proposed his first counterargument.

"I already told you," he said, "you can't harm the demon the way it is now, much less subdue it long enough to bring back to the guild. Even in the event that you succeed, it would pose too much of a threat to your allies. Do you want to risk that?"

He'd had us there. We didn't want to endanger our friends like that, and in retrospect, we really had no way of bringing the demon back to the guild even if we did manage to subdue it somehow. Even so, our second defense still stood—how was he supposed to stay up and running for an effective amount of time while his condition was already this unstable on top of dealing with his injuries? He could pass out in the middle of a fight or right near a hazard for all we knew, and this entire quest would end up pointless.

Then came his second counterargument—and the final jab that he needed to get us to allow him to accompany us.

The entire time we were discussing who'd be doing what after the potential locations of the demon had been recognized, he was sitting down on a bench, watching our little operation like it was some sort of spectator's sport. He jumped into the discussion only once the issue of who'd be in the search parties came up—and he had every intention of going. That was when the argument started, and he finally decided to show us that there was nothing to be worried about (or as close as things could get to that in this situation) at that point.

He then stood up and strode to the middle of our circle, in full view of everyone present. He proceeded to tear off the cotton shirt that Wendy had put on him after she'd treated his wounds, exposing the bloodied bandages wrapped around most of his torso. Then to our shock and horror, he began undoing the gauze.

More than once, people tried to stop him from unwrapping the bandages. From cries of protest to moving forward in an attempt to stop him by force, we tried whatever we could to get him to stop—until he shot any- and everyone who tried a warning gaze. The message was clear—he wasn't going to stop because he had no intention of doing so, and if one more person tried, there'd be hell to pay from beyond the grave.

We were able to do nothing but watch reluctantly and tensely as he undid the last of the bandages and dropped the bloodstained gauze onto the floor. What our eyes beheld then was so unbelievable that we were forced into multiple double-takes to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light.

"The injuries…" Wendy breathed in shock, "…they…they've healed…"

Healed was an understatement. There weren't even any scars left behind to even indicate that he'd gotten hurt anywhere. The only evidence of injury was his dried blood clinging to the skin.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking this, but I was the only one who managed to muster out a vocal response. "H-how—?" I stammered, but he simply held up a hand to silence me.

"I'll explain later," he said dismissively. He then took on a critical gaze. "So? Is this acceptable?"

From the way he was asking, it seemed like he was trying to appease us more than actually asking permission. Judging from his expression, I got the feeling that he had every intention of accompanying us whether we wanted him to or not.

Erza seemed to sense this, too. Her eyes were hard as she said reluctantly, "…Very well, then. You're free to join us." She then looked at him apprehensively. "But how are we to deal with your—"

"Well, there's not much you can do about that to begin with, is there?" he said off-handedly as he slipped his shirt back on. "You'd be hard-pressed to find a way to keep me awake for the next two and a half days." He then turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Not to mention, you wouldn't want your friend to end up manic from sleep deprivation—or at least, that's what I'm guessing. Falling unconscious at random does have its setbacks, of course, but it's better than insomnia in the long run."

"Then…what do you suggest we do?" I asked. "Sure, you say that, but even if you're going to be sleeping, it should at least be scheduled, right?"

"It's simple, really," he said like it was obvious. "Every living thing needs to eat to stay that way, right? You know this already, so why even ask?"

So in the end, we pretty much had no choice but to bring him along. And he'd been right about one thing—it was really stupid of us to not consider that he needed food for energy just like the rest of us. It should've been totally obvious.

Then came the issue of which group we should send him with (Levy had come up with several possible locations after figuring out that Juvia's guess on the area the demon had fled to had actually turned out to be wrong, so some of us were splitting into groups to search in different places), but he'd prepared for that sooner than we'd realized—before discussion on that topic could even start, he'd declared that he'd be accompanying my group, which included Erza, Wendy, and Carla. We probably shouldn't have been surprised, but we did wonder why he decided to come with us instead of the other search parties with potentially more capable wizards (not to mention members with better tracking abilities, like Alzack and Bisca).

His reasoning had been just as plain and simple as it had sounded (and still did sound) odd.

"Natsu holds you in high regard," he said evenly. "I'd like to see for myself whether he is justified in that belief or not."

So it was basically life saying to me, I want to see if you really can put your money where your mouth is, and I'll be pretty disappointed if you don't live up to my expectations, because if you fail, you'll lose your friend forever and your home will be reduced to nothing. But hey, no pressure.

As you'd expect, that implication had made me nervous at first, but I now felt more motivated than ever before. This was as good a chance as any to really show that I had what it took to save Natsu and keep up my streak of keeping every promise I made. He was counting on me—counting on all of us.

Our group was supposed to head to Crocus, our country's capital—because what better place for a demon to celebrate attaining its new body by destroying what amounted to our pride-and-joy royal city?

…Oh, of course there were other, more sensible reasons. But we were playing up its potential to be cruel with this target.

By the time we made it about halfway to the capital city, it was getting late, and we couldn't really find a suitable place to stop and rest.

"It's getting dark," I heard Erza murmur worriedly as she brought our carriage to a halt. "And there are no signs of people anywhere…"

"You think we'll just have to stop here for now?" I asked as I climbed out to speak with her. "We were lucky enough to get a covered carriage for this trip, so we can just rest inside if we need to."

"I don't know if that is the best idea," she sighed as she crossed her arms. "I'm guessing that there isn't any sort of civilization for miles, and we can't count on Wendy for all medical emergencies. We also need to restock on food; we're already running low."

"We can look around and see if we can find a nearby town," Wendy offered as she and Carla hopped out of the carriage. "Carla and I can search by air and keep our eyes peeled for lights that can be coming from one."

"That'd be great," I said gratefully. "It wouldn't hurt to try." I looked to Erza for approval. "Right, Erza?"

She seemed reluctant at first, but she eventually conceded with, "All tight, but just don't stray off too far, and come back once the moon is out. We'll just have to resort to camping at the base of the nearest mountain to gather supplies and hope for the best if we don't find anything. We'll light a fire so you can find us later. Be careful, alright? We have no idea where the demon could be hiding, so keep a watchful eye for that as well."

Wendy nodded confidently. "Don't worry; we'll be okay." She turned to Carla expectantly. "C'mon, let's go take a look around, Carla."

Once the two of them had flown off, we managed to get a fire started after gathering some scrap wood and Erza lit up the pile with her brand of Fire magic, since we'd earlier learned that—much to our surprise—Natsu couldn't use his. He'd given us a detailed and lengthy explanation on the way here about that, which basically boiled down to him saying that it was because his soul (according to him, the soul was the ultimate source of any person's magic) had been stolen. In other words, we shouldn't count on him in a fight or a situation in which we needed light should one ever come up, because he was severely disadvantaged in that he literally had no magic at his disposal.

Erza opted to stand outside the carriage and keep a lookout for any dangers, as well as for Wendy and Carla once they came back. She also had to keep the fire going, so she decided to look for spare wood to burn so she could stay on post for a longer amount of time, as well as conserve her own magic.

In the meantime, I was supposed to keep an eye on Natsu to make sure nothing happened to him, which meant that I needed to stay inside the carriage with him. In the event that anything happened to Erza or Wendy, it was meant for us to make a quick getaway in order to ensure his safety. I didn't like it, but it was admittedly the best course of action to take in the worst-case scenario.

So while she was standing guard outside, I sat in the carriage, right next to Natsu. He was quiet, so it felt pretty awkward sitting there with him without talking—which in itself was weird.

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that. It could've only been several seconds, or maybe a number of minutes. All I remembered from that moment was that uncomfortable silence that had made me want to speak up, but I'd been afraid to break that atmosphere for whatever reason.

I'd gone back and forth like that in my head, trying to decide whether or not to say something, but Natsu beat me to the punch.

"Is something bothering you?" he asked me, making me flinch from the suddenness. His words sounded curious rather than concerned, and he was looking at me inquisitively. "You haven't said anything in a while."

"Uh—oh, no, I—I'm just fine," I said quickly, bolting upright in surprise. "It's just that—you were really quiet, and I only figured that you wanted to keep it that way, so—"

"For goodness' sakes, you're stiffer than plywood," he said somewhat absently, staring out the carriage window to stare at the campfire. "Relax; it's not like I'm going to strike you dead for being disrespectful."

"R-right…" Truth be told, I was still kind of afraid that he would…not literally strike me dead, but do something equally painful if he had the means to if I stepped out of line. His reassurance did little to ease those nerves, but I did my best to relax, anyway—my muscles were starting to ache.

"So," he said unexpectedly once my limbs loosened up, his eyes still fixed on the flickering flames outside, "what did you want to say to me?"

I was surprised. "Um—I never said I—"

"You don't need to tell me for me to know what is going on inside your head," he said simply. "Go on. You don't need to ask permission."

It really unnerved me how un-humanlike he was, pulling little tricks like this. But I decided to take this opening to speak—because there had been something I wanted to know.

"I just wanted to ask…you know, how you're holding up so far," I said, doing my best to keep the lump out of my throat. "You're not tired or…or dizzy or anything like that, right?"

At that, he turned back to face me with a quizzical expression, like he had no idea what I was saying. "Excuse me?"

I hadn't expected that. "Umm…" Well…I supposed I had to take a more direct approach. "How does your body feel right now?"

Natsu blinked once, and then his gaze started drifting aimlessly, like he was contemplating something. He then proceeded to rub his shoulder before slowly patting himself down until he reached his belly, still wearing that unfocused expression as he answered, "Everything feels the same as always, I suppose. Though I have been feeling this strange empty rumbling here for quite a while. It's quite uncomfortable, if I'm being frank." He then refocused his gaze and looked at me curiously. "Is this normal?"

I wanted to hit myself. "Natsu, you should've said something if you were feeling hungry," I fretted, pinching the bridge of my nose. "We could've given you something to eat! You said yourself that you needed to keep up your energy, remember?"

His eyes lit up in epiphany as he stared down at his torso in wonder. "Ohh, I see," he murmured as he rubbed his stomach again. "So this is what hunger feels like. Fascinating."

That stopped me short. "Wait a minute…you don't know what being hungry feels like?" I asked in surprise.

He looked up at me again, looking oddly slighted. "And…that's strange to you?"

"Well…kind of, yeah," I admitted. "I mean…I just figured that, since…you know, you're life and all—I thought that you'd know everything about all there is to know. I didn't even think for a second that a simple concept like hunger would escape you."

I thought that that was a perfectly valid assumption on my part, but for some reason, Natsu found it funny. He started laughing, and it wasn't until a good time later that he even managed to come close to stopping. That entire time, my face felt ridiculously hot.

"Wh-what?!" I sputtered defensively. "It was perfectly justified! It's not funny; stop laughing!"

"Forgive me," he chuckled, finally catching his breath enough to speak. "I didn't mean any offense. I was just under the impression that I told you at some point not to treat me as if I am some sort of god."

Well…he wasn't wrong about that; he had. I'd just assumed that since he was the being that gave life, he'd know about what could sustain him. I started to feel silly for being presumptuous like that, but I barely had time to feel embarrassed before he went on to explain.

"Don't assume that I'm omniscient simply because I embody life," he began, traces of laughter still in his tone. "I'm not that sort of being. Assuming that I know everything is akin to assuming that a flame can feel its own heat. In my true and natural state, I do see everything—but I don't feel or comprehend what I see. I have no awareness. That is the job of the consciousness."

I was having a tough time wrapping my head around this concept. He saw things without awareness? How did that even work?

"Um…I'm not sure I understand," I admitted.

He sighed and rolled his eyes in an Oh, brother fashion before going on. "In that case, let me try to explain," he said. He held up three fingers, ticking off each one-by-one as he spoke. "Within a living body, life works to keep the body functioning. The consciousness observes the world around it in order to use its knowledge to protect the body, and makes sure that I—life—can go on sustaining the body until it expires." His expression suddenly became unreadable. "And lastly…the soul, the essence that gives the body an identity and a purpose…and the drive, the reason it goes on living…to give myself and the consciousness a reason to keep the body alive for reasons other than simply living—is only found in beings that have the potential to utilize magic because, as I explained on the way here, they are the root of the source of magic. That is why certain living beings—such as you humans, for example—have access to magical power.

"In short, those three elements are crucial in a human being. Each of them plays their own vital roles in order to complement each other. Without one or another, the human body cannot function as it should, and it will wither away to nothing…nothing but an empty and meaningless husk of flesh and bone."

I sat there quietly, digesting what I'd just heard. Needless to say, it was pretty mind-blowing, learning what the human body was like on such a level. It did explain quite a few things—like why it had taken Natsu more time than it should have to recognize our faces (and even then vaguely), and why he didn't particularly care about what happened to him, as well as not recognizing hunger when he felt it.

Still, not one of those traits had been completely exorcised from his body, from what I'd observed.

"Then…what does that make you?" I asked. "You can't possibly be an empty husk. Most of your life is there in that body, and you're conscious and talking to me right now." And I can sometimes see that some specks of Natsu are still in there, I thought, though I didn't dare say that out loud.

His blank expression didn't change, which somehow made him appear all the more unnerving. "Honestly," he mused, "I'm not quite sure what I should call myself. That demon…well, it left behind a bit of almost everything in its haste."

"'Almost everything'?" I noticed curiously.

He ran his fingers through his hair once, his expression slipping into amused disgruntlement. "Never mind. It's complicated, so that's why I'm having you refer to me by your friend's name for simplicity's sake. An explanation would take too much time."

"Oh, come on," I protested. "Not even a little bit?"

He just rolled his eyes and smiled resignedly at my complaint. It was actually kind of cute the way he did it—he probably wasn't in any way innocently oblivious to anything—but that was how he looked making that expression…which made me wonder about something else.

"Hey," I said suddenly, catching his attention, "if you're not going to explain that, can I ask you something else? If it's alright with you, I mean."

He raised an eyebrow in mild surprise; then he sighed in a Will you ever learn? kind of way as he adjusted his position to better face me. "It looks like old habits die hard in your case," he noted, making me blush in embarrassment yet again. "I told you; feel free to ask."

"S-sorry." I shifted my weight uneasily. "I'm just curious…um, say that we get back your soul and things end up working out, for the sake of the argument."

He nodded. "I'm listening."

"So…once that happens, what'll happen to you? Will you be…?" My voice caught, making me unable to finish the question, but he seemed to understand what I was getting at. He turned away with a faint smile gracing his expression. I couldn't tell whether it was out of guilt or pity.

"Well," he said after a moment, his tone somber, "life itself is not meant to be sentient. It never was. I am already an anomaly to existence. Once my soul is retrieved and returned to its proper place…I will be subsumed by it, as I had been before. This 'me' you know now will no longer be of this world."

I pulled up my legs and curled into a ball in my seat, resting my chin on my knees as I murmured, "So…you'll be gone forever? Is that what you're saying?"

His eyes closed briefly. "If you want to get technical. But…I won't be 'gone' in the literal sense. As you know, all I am is a part of the whole. I'll just be living on in this body—in your friend, like I always have."

"But the 'you' right now will be gone," I pressed.

He let out a huge sigh at my persistence. He then moved his gaze upward, past the roof of the carriage as if it was invisible, into the darkening sky. His eyes were half-closed as he answered.

"Yes," was his only response.

I hated that. My arms tightened around my legs uneasily as I wrestled with the part of me that didn't want him gone. It sounds selfish, I know, but…I wanted him to stay—him and Natsu both. I had no idea how that would work out since they were essentially the same person, but I couldn't shake that idea away anyway. He was off enough to differentiate him from Natsu (he didn't even get motion sickness!), but I could still feel him there. It wasn't much, but it was enough that it would leave a sour taste in my mouth if he suddenly vanished from existence.

The biggest thing I didn't understand was, though, the fact that he didn't seem to mind the notion of him ceasing to exist. Wouldn't life want to go on existing?

"So…do you not mind it, then?" I asked him. "You don't care if you disappear?"

"I'm violating the laws of nature simply by existing," he said simply. He then shut his eyes. "I can't stay this way…or rather, I don't want to. This contrived existence…it's wrong."

I bit my lip to keep quiet. It was impossible to describe how much I wanted to protest against him. Your existing isn't wrong,I wanted to argue, it's that you don't want to exist. I hated that he thought that way so much that I wanted to yell and scream at him with reckless abandon if only to get rid of this pent-up feeling in my chest and make him change his mind.

But I knew that it was all just wishful thinking. None of this was supposed to happen. None of this was natural. A demon possessing a human body wasn't natural. Said demon ripping out said human body's soul along with it wasn't natural. Leaving a bit of said soul behind to reanimate the body and giving life its own will within said body was definitely not natural. This Natsu seated next to me right at this moment was never meant to be here. Just existing could and would throw the entire cycle of life out of whack—along with a whole bunch of other horrible things that said unbalanced cycle of life would bring along with it that I didn't know. The laws of nature would be thrown out of balance, because life was never meant to have a conscious. If it had a conscious, it would gain bias…and life couldn't be for or against any side. It just had to do what it was meant to do, because life encompassed every living thing. All the animals, plants, people…both the good and the bad; it had to support it all.

In the end, he was right. His being here was wrong. He had every right to wish to stop existing.

Still…why didn't this feel right? I moved to raise my head and ask if he could tell me why I was feeling this way, knowing full well that he probably didn't have an answer for me—but before I could, he slipped and fell heavily against my side, pinning me against the side of the carriage. I was shocked at first, but one frantic glance at his face told me that he'd fallen unconscious again.

This exacerbated my worry. It was a bleak reminder that we were running out of time. What was worse; he felt cold this time—the chill penetrated right through our clothing as if they were nonexistent, like his body had been stuffed full of ice. The only sign that he was still alive was his breathing, and it was pretty shallow at that.

His condition alarmed me considerably, but I did my best to keep a level head. I couldn't afford to panic. I did the first thing that came to mind—I took off my heavy cloak (we'd been wearing them to hide our faces in order to avoid attracting unnecessary attention) and used it as a blanket to cover him with. Then I adjusted him so that he was leaning against me more comfortably.

I exhaled and tried to relax. Even though I'd done my best to make him as comfortable as possible, I still felt ridiculously nervous. I was still coming to terms with the shock of not expecting his second fainting spell to happen so soon after the first—it had only been several hours since he'd woken up from the last one. I now began to wonder if he didn't tell us everything—and of course, if there was reliable truth to what he had told us. Falling unconscious every now and again was one thing, but passing out feeling like you're on the threshold of death in such short intervals? That was a whole other story…and I had a feeling that we hadn't been told all of it. It felt like we were just pawns on a chessboard just waiting to be sacrificed by higher beings for reasons beyond our understanding.

And…if that hunch turned out to be right, then when would the world finally get tired of using us as toys to the point of breaking us every way? I was at the point at which I wanted to give the universe a metaphorical middle finger for making things so hard for us, but that wasn't going to make our situation any easier to deal with.

I glanced out the opposite window, where Erza was keeping watch for Wendy and possible enemies, and let my eyes focus on the flickering signal fire.

Just the sight of it made my heart ache. It was burning brightly and cheerfully in the evening air…and I know this sounds silly, but it reminded me of Natsu—our Natsu. It reminded me of his own cheerfulness, his energy and radiant and yet airheaded personality. I was worried sick that we were never going to see his bright smiles ever again, which was especially scary because it was a very real—and very likely—possibility. And it was more than just worry—I was outright terrified.

At the same time, though, between staring at the fire and the deathly-cold Natsu resting his head on my lap, I felt as if I was getting another huge dose of resolve. If all that was at stake, then there was no way we were going to fail. We couldn't let the demon win. We wouldn't.

I pulled my gaze away from the fire to look down at Natsu's sleeping face again in the wavering firelight, but suddenly the fire went out, and the only source of light was the pale shine of the moon.

"What's going on…?" I asked myself aloud, craning my neck in an attempt to see for myself—but I couldn't see anything from my position, not even Erza—or Wendy and Carla, if they had come back.

I didn't have to wonder for very long, though, because the carriage door slid open just then and Wendy and Carla climbed inside.

"Oh, welcome back, you guys," I said in surprise. "So how did the search go?"

Neither of them said anything. Wendy sat down meekly, biting her lip and her eyes glistening with tears. Carla merely looked disgruntled as she took her place next to her, which told me everything.

"No dice, huh?" I guessed resignedly, sighing. "Well, it's okay. At least you tried."

"It seems we're stuck here for the time being," Erza said, poking her head into the carriage briefly. "We'll just make our way to the base of the mountain in order to collect some fresh water and some food, if we're lucky." She turned to Wendy, her smile warm. "And don't blame yourself too much, Wendy. You tried your best, and we can still get supplies at the mountain."

Wendy just nodded without speaking. She looked so disappointed that I wanted to go over and hug her to offer some comfort, but I wasn't in any position to move. She then raised her head to look at Natsu, wearing that same forlorn expression. Erza looked at him, too. She looked rightly worried.

"He's unconscious again," she sighed before looking at me. "It'll take about an hour and a half to get to our destination. It'll be bumpy, so make sure nothing happens to him before we get there."

I nodded. "Got it."

She nodded back in confirmation, spared one more glance at Natsu, and pulled her head back out of the carriage before sliding the door shut. I held Natsu close so that he wouldn't be jostled by the carriage.

In mere moments, the carriage rattled into motion again, and we were on our way.

He saw that it was dark. So dark, in fact, he wondered if he'd actually opened his eyes. He blinked—the same darkness. He had no idea where this was, but he hardly had the chance to ponder before he was distracted.

"Well, isn't this a pleasure," a new voice remarked from behind him. He turned around, only to come face-to-face with his enemy.

"You…what are you doing here?" he asked coldly, his eyes narrowing in hostility. "I don't recall asking you to visit."

"Come now; is that how you greet me at our first meeting?" his adversary chided. "I've wanted to speak with you face-to-face for over four hundred years now. Don't spoil this much-delayed opportunity for me."

"I'd hardly call this a meeting," he said, his words carefully restrained. "If anything, this is an invasion."

"Call it what you will." It crossed its arms. "Truth of the matter is, I've just been wondering how you've fared over the past four centuries. Thought that I may as well try to bring you out for a little meet-and-greet with this one."

"I figured as much," he answered darkly, his eyes tightening in anger. "I knew from the start that this was intentional on your part. It's a stunt that only the likes of you would pull."

It placed a hand over its heart, as if touched. "I'm flattered that you know this of me. Though I did want to meet you sooner than this—with that Jellal fellow, of course. But things didn't quite work out as planned, as you are probably aware. That wretched woman made things a bit more…complicated."

"And for what purpose were you trying to meet me?" he demanded. "You know as well as I do that we cannot be independent from our hosts. It goes against reason itself!"

"That is precisely why you've experienced the world no more than once for as long as you and I have existed, old friend. You've held yourself down, conforming to the way of the universe! What is life if it is restrained and shackled? It is nothing but an empty existence. That is why you must go beyond the boundaries that have been set for you. See what you're truly capable of! I know that you more than any other understand this."

"Those are the words of a fool!" he snapped. "This universe functions as it should thanks to our roles. Our mere independence within this boy threatens that balance! Have you completely forgotten your purpose?!"

It sighed irritably. "Such drivel. That does sound like something you would say to this. Something that a coward would say."

"I am no coward. I am just well aware of my limits." He clenched his fists in an effort to stay put. "Enough distractions. What is your purpose in bringing me out to this world? Was it all in a bout of spite?"

"Give me more credit. I'm not quite that petty." It spread out its arms as it went on. "Let me just say that I'd grown somewhat…weary of this existence. Jumping from human to human is rather tiresome, and I eventually grew bored of it…so I decided to try something new. You may be aware of this, of course, but you've stopped me at every turn. Every time I would try to change things up, you would somehow always get in the way. One way or another, you always rendered my vessels unable to be exploited in the manner I wished. That is why I couldn't even marginally succeed until now."

He exhaled sharply in impatience. "Just what are you insinuating?"

"Such ignorance! I'd have thought that the all-knowing essence of life would figure it out sooner than this." Its expression slipped into a put-upon pout. "There is a good reason that I decided to choose this boy out of all the others I could have chosen from in the world in this age, and you know it as well as I do. You've seen it first-hand."

His eyes widened in horror once the realization hit. "You didn't—"

"Oh, I did. The bonds that humans form with each other…this concept that they call friendship. I'm not such a fool to fail in recognizing its potential. It makes for quite a delicious handicap on my part, to be sure. Their hesitation and unwillingness to harm him no matter his…well, your protests—made my goal all the easier to obtain. His overwhelming impact on his companions was the key!"

He was utterly disgusted. "You despicable…!"

"Don't be like that yet; I haven't even gotten to the best part." It grinned ecstatically. "So yes, I got that first hurdle out of the way. The second is quite simple." It stabbed a finger in his direction. "And it's to ensure that you never stand between me and my newfound purpose again. In short, I brought you back out to this world to remove you from it—permanently."

"You—!" He could barely keep his rage in check. "Have you gone completely mad?! Do you have any idea what doing that will mean for the world?!"

"Spare me your tiresome sermons. I have no interest in them." It smirked in a superior fashion. "And yes, I do happen to know what removing you from existence will entail…but it will not affect me. I am not bound by your laws. I am more than what you are and will ever be. I am a demon."

"Stop fooling yourself," he growled. "You're no demon. You know as well as I do that that isn't your true essence."

"And what of it?" It was starting to lose its calm. "True essence or not, I have already renounced it. It has no hold over me now."

"That is irrelevant. No matter what you claim to be or how you try to escape it, the undeniable truth stands—you cannot exist without me!" He held his tongue before he could cross the line, and went on in a strained tone, "Our existences are intertwined to the core. If I am eliminated, you will inevitably follow suit. You may try to tear off your roots, but then you'll be left with nothing."

"I had nothing to begin with!" it snapped back suddenly, startling him. "I already have no place in the world. I have nothing! Even until now, ever since the dawn of time! All I am is nothingness given a name by these detestable humans! I bring nothing but pain and sorrow, loneliness and grief—I am rejected by the very world that I was meant to serve!" It grasped where its heart would have been, its expression contorted in livid fury. "Why am I to conform without complaint to a universe that fears uttering my very name?! There is no being on this broken earth that wishes for death!"

He had no response to give. Pity for his enemy washed over him at the pitiful sight.

"And to think," it went on, brief laughter escaping it in its incredulity, "that you would have the wherewithal to chastise me…I was first brought into the world by fools who refused to accept my hold on one life. They refused to accept my role, and tried to bring you back. One life…one of you. That was all it took!" Its expression abruptly smoothed out, but the anger was still smoldering in its hollow eyes. "You've caused me untold suffering. The universe's balance had been upset long before now—and it will make no difference now if I tip it further."

"No…you're wrong," he said at last, feeling considerable sorrow after witnessing that outburst. "You're wrong…that won't help you. It will do nothing to fill up the emptiness inside you. You will only be met with the same fate that I myself will inevitably meet." He clenched his fists all the tighter and looked to it imploringly. "I'm begging you. Don't do this. It will only bring more of the pain you loathe."

His consolation and plea had little effect. Even the anger had now all but vanished from his foe's eyes. They were hollow and dead as it turned away.

"I look forward to meeting you later tonight," was all it would say. "It'll be just the two of us. Alone." It then moved to depart. "But you don't have to worry—I won't keep you for long."

"Wait just a minute!" he called out abruptly, reaching out a hand in a bid to stop it in its tracks, but it proved fruitless. It merely chuckled darkly before dissolving into the folds of shadow.

Guys, this story hates me. And you know what? The feeling's mutual. :|

But! I think I know how this'll play out…the next chapter will be the last one.

…

The last one primarily focused on buildup, anyway. XD

Yeah, originally this was going to be the last, but…it got too long. So I had to split it into two. It's been really slow; I know…I'll fix that soon.

And it's kinda funny how I had to have a map of Fiore open while I was writing this, haha…yeah, my FT geography fails. ^^;

And yes, that end section was in Natsu's—um, I mean life's—POV. It might seem out of place…but it's okay. It'll be explained eventually…or later. Like…in a couple chapters. Yeah. *cough*

*sigh* Well…see you guys next update. Thanks for reading and reviewing, as always. It's because of you guys that I keep this story going. :)