…These chapters are getting longer.

To Justice Tokidoki: I understand where you're coming from; the conflict between life and death is a pretty expansive concept compared to the FT gang's troubles. Even so, I do have plans for this, so don't worry. :) And I'll agree that I kinda don't want Life!Natsu to go away, either, but…that in itself kind of depends on Natsu, you know, surviving. ^^; And yes. You can call it that if you want.

To treeofsakuras: Wow, quite a few questions. Okay…yes; yes; I will go over Natsu's current state of being later on, and the demon's reasoning will be explained more in future chapters. As for Natsu not being human, well…let me just say that this story is far from over. ;)

To f . tastarossa (ch. 12 and 14): Wow, thank you. Heh, I honestly can't say how long this story will be at this point, though. I'm just going where it takes me. :)

To Zangetsu50: Like I said, I don't know how long this story will end up. It'll end when it ends. And I'm sorry if the end was a bit difficult to read; I did my best to differentiate the two of them. Life!Natsu is referred to as "he" and the demon as "it". There's a good reason for that which will be explained later. Sorry about the confusion. ^^;

To KIKR15: I'm sorry I'm making you wait! But really, this story just hits me with inspiration at random, and I have no idea when it'll hit me again after an update. As for your question…since Life!Natsu is there speaking to it, it's not Natsu's body. And the demon doesn't actually have a real body; that's why it stole Natsu's soul in the first place—to make one for itself.

To Imacat (guest): Thanks, I'm glad you think so. =^^=

Ch. 15: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

We managed to make it to the base of the mountain without incident. I honestly don't know how we did it—it must've been sheer dumb luck. Whatever the case, none of us were complaining.

The carriage finally clattered to a halt after what seemed like forever—and judging from the light of the lamp Erza had been using to avoid stumbling around in the dark, we'd parked beneath a clump of tall yet low-hanging trees. Willows, maybe. Both Wendy and I looked up as the carriage door slid open and Erza peered inside.

"We're stopping here for the moment," she said to us. "We won't stay here long, so get some fresh air while you still can. We've still got quite a ways to go, and there shouldn't be anyone out here who can see us."

"What about you?" I asked.

"I'll stay close by," she answered me. "I'll be collecting some food and water, since there should be a stream around these parts." She turned to Wendy, who was listening attentively while cuddling a sleeping Carla. "It falls on you to guard the carriage until I return. You can handle that, right?"

Wendy nodded vigorously. "Yes! It'll be no problem!"

Erza grinned in reassurance, and then turned to me. "So, how is Natsu doing?"

I started. "Oh…" I looked down at his face. It was hard to tell in the flickering lamplight, but he didn't seem as pale as before. I felt his body moving up and down slightly, so it seemed more like he was asleep now than dead. "He's doing a little better now; his body feels a bit warmer," I said. "But he's still unconscious."

Erza knit her eyebrows together in concern. "I see," she murmured, looking away. "It's not very promising, but at least he's no longer on the verge of death." She shook her head lightly before continuing, "In either case, keep him safe, you two. I'll be back soon."

She then pulled her head back out and ventured into the woods, soon disappearing from sight. She'd left the door open, so I could feel the cold night chill of the mountain air on my cheeks. It felt fresh and inviting, but I was reluctant to leave the carriage. I didn't want to leave Natsu alone.

"Lucy?"

I flinched slightly at the sound of Wendy's voice. "Uh, yeah?"

She looked concerned. "I think you should go out for some air. You look a little pale."

I blinked. "Do I?" I asked blankly.

"Well…you haven't stepped outside for a really long time," she said. "And haven't let go of Natsu this entire ride, either. Your fingers are blue."

"Huh?" I looked down at them—and sure enough, my fingers were a pale shade of blue. In fact, I felt chills all through my body. My muscles were locked—I could barely feel myself, and my arms and fingers in particular wouldn't even twitch…which was to be expected after hugging what amounted to a human popsicle for the good amount of an hour.

"I…think I'm stuck," I confessed, staring helplessly at my arms locked around his broad shoulders and my hands pressing against his back. "I can't move."

Wendy rose to her feet in concern. "In that case, let me help you."

"No, no; it's okay," I said quickly, shaking my head and stopping her in her tracks. "I'm sure I'll be fine later."

"But Lucy," she protested, "you'll end up hypothermic if you stay like that for much longer!"

"Don't worry," I assured her. "I'll be okay; I—"

SNAP!

The both of us flinched at the sudden noise.

"What was that?" I asked apprehensively. "It sounded close…"

"It can't be Erza," Wendy mused worriedly. "I mean, it hasn't been that long since she left…" She looked at me quickly and said, "I'll go and take a look. Stay here."

Wendy hopped out of the carriage, leaving me and Natsu alone. I hoped against hope that it was just an old branch cracking; I didn't want to deal with any potential attackers right now.

It wasn't long before I heard a girl screaming—at which point things started happening so fast that I had no clue what had happened in between. By the time I was able to gather my bearings, Natsu had vanished and Wendy was screaming for me and Erza for help.

"LUCY! ERZA!" Wendy was shouting in panic from somewhere in the blackness of the woods. "SOMEONE, HELP US!"

Us?

"Wendy?!" I cried, struggling to stand up straight before half-jogging, half-hobbling through the dark toward the sound of her voice—sitting so stiffly while holding Natsu so tightly for so long was making it hard for me to use my legs right. "Don't worry—I'm coming! I'll be right there!"

As I stumbled toward the sound of her cries, a horrifying thought ran through my mind—if Natsu had vanished out of nowhere like that, then could it have been that demon trying to steal him away for whatever reason? Was Wendy's cry for help nothing but a distraction?

I quickly shook that thought out of my head. Now wasn't the time to be second-guessing. I had to go help Wendy—there was a high chance that Natsu could be the reason she sounded so terrified right now. He'd vanished so unexplainably just before Wendy started to cry out for help—these two events had to be connected somehow.

Erza, I'm sure you heard her, too, I thought ruefully as I nearly fell after tripping over a tree root. If I can't make it there, at least you should go and help her out—

"Lucy!"

I jumped at the sound of the new voice, and I saw a tiny ball of white fly toward me—it was Carla.

"Carla?" I said in disbelief. "What just—?"

"You'll see when you get there," she said impatiently, already facing the direction in which she'd come. "Anyway, we've got a huge problem—follow me, quickly!"

"R-right!"

Carla led me through the trees, which got progressively thicker and taller. When we finally managed to arrive on the scene, I couldn't make much sense of what I saw at first.

I found Wendy and a girl I didn't recognize trying to lift a huge tree limb off the ground—or maybe they were pushing it. In either case, I immediately put two and two together and deduced that that limb was the source of the crash.

What I couldn't figure out was why they were trying to move the tree limb in the first place—and who that strange girl was. She didn't look much older than I did, and I really couldn't imagine where she'd come from out in this wilderness. I didn't think that there were any people around here.

I moved closer and called out, "Wendy?" in an attempt to catch her attention. It worked, as she turned around and caught sight of me. Her expression was one of overwhelming relief.

"Lucy!" she cried, her eyes prickling with fresh tears. "Thank goodness you're here! You've got to help us, please! It's Natsu!"

My heart skipped a beat at his name. "Wh-what?!" I exclaimed in alarm, rushing to her side—sure enough, I saw him pinned face-down underneath the limb.

"How—how did he…?" I stammered in shock. I couldn't tell you how confused I was then. What had happened here?

First thought that ran through my head—Is he okay?

Second thought—How did he manage to get here in the first place?

It was unbelievable. He didn't appear to be hurt anywhere—there wasn't even a scratch on him—but he was motionless underneath the giant limb, which meant that he was unconscious. That in itself wasn't too surprising.

But what really boggled our minds was that I hadn't noticed him moving such a huge distance in such a short amount of time. Natsu had been half-dead, in all respects, so there was no way he could've been conscious, let alone moving.

Then again…we hadn't noticed him when he moved, so…was it possible that he hadn't been conscious? That didn't make any sense; he'd barely even twitched the first time he'd passed out.

"I'm not sure what happened," Wendy said fervently, glancing helplessly at Carla before going on. "I saw that tree limb about to fall on her"—she pointed to the girl—"and I was too far away to help—and that was when Natsu appeared out of nowhere and pushed her out of the way." She looked to me with desperation in her eyes. "What happened, Lucy? How did Natsu manage to get here and save her?"

That was my line. "I—I have no idea; I—"

"Listen, that can wait until later," the girl interrupted sharply before I could say anything more. "Save the questions for after we get that limb off of him. Quit dawdling and move it already!"

I shook my head to clear it at her words. "Sh-she's right," I said, smacking my cheeks once to snap out of it. "Let's focus on helping Natsu first, Wendy."

Wendy bit her lip. "O-okay," she said.

I had to bite my own lip as we moved to lift the huge tree limb. So many questions were reigning in my head right then that I thought that it was going to burst.

One question drowned out all the others in its sheer implausibility.

How did Natsu get here?

Luckily for us, Erza had managed to find us just as we were straining to lift the behemoth. She'd held up the limb and tossed it aside like it was nothing more than a sack of potatoes as Wendy and I struggled to lift Natsu off the ground. My heart had leapt in worry when I noticed that he felt cold again.

The girl who had helped us offered us some shelter to rest up and comfortably gather the supplies we needed, and she led us to a small, yet well-built cabin in a clearing next to a rushing stream. The entire time she'd been leading us there, she kept looking back at us (namely Natsu) nervously before flicking her gaze around the woods as if she was looking out for something. I couldn't understand the reason for that, but neither Erza nor Carla seemed to notice anything suspicious about her, so I kept quiet the entire trek, extremely aware of the icy cold pressing against my back.

Once we'd reached the cabin and we'd settled in properly (or as properly as we could manage without making ourselves too much at home), we thanked her and introduced ourselves, after which the girl introduced herself as Izarra.

"I hope it's not too uncomfortable," she said, parking herself on a wooden stool. "I'm sorry the place is so cluttered. We usually don't get visitors."

I blinked in surprise. We?

"It's all right," Erza assured her. "We're just grateful that you helped us."

"Oh, it was no trouble, really," she said quickly, waving her hand. "If anything, I should be thanking you. I probably would have been the one under that tree limb if it weren't for him." She glanced at Natsu lying on one of four bunks as she spoke before looking back to us, brushing back her shoulder-length chocolate-colored hair. "And if Wendy hadn't been there to see it happen, I don't know what would've happened to either of us." She inclined her head. "Thank you so much."

"I-it was nothing," Wendy stammered, looking flustered. I could see her face turning pink in embarrassment.

Izarra giggled once before saying, "So, are you guys wizards from the Fairy Tail guild?"

The four of us started in shock. So she'd noticed that already?

"Relax, I'm not gonna bite you or anything." She turned back to glance at Natsu again, this time with a warm smile. "I just can't thank you guys enough tonight, can I?"

I was confused. "W-wait a minute," I stuttered. "You—you're not—angry at us?"

"Well…" She sighed, an oddly forlorn light crossing her eyes. "I guess…if the circumstances were different, I would be really upset. But…" She focused her gaze firmly on the four of us. "…I know for a fact that Natsu would never hurt and kill innocent people. That's not the kind of person he is."

"You know him?!" I exclaimed without thinking.

"Who doesn't? He's the infamous Natsu Dragneel, right? Natsu the Salamander, one of those powerful Dragon Slayers. He's notorious for destroying things while on the job, isn't he?"

Carla sighed in defeat. "So word of his destruction even reached the mountains here, has it? Honestly…"

"But I am curious how you're so sure about him, Miss Izarra," Wendy noted uneasily. "Do you know him from somewhere?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. It's been years, but there's no way I could forget him." She smiled wistfully. "He took on one of my parents' jobs, back when I was just a kid. He was supposed to escort me and my brother from here to Shirotsume safely to where my grandparents and cousins were to deliver some rare herbs to them because we were too young to go by ourselves—and our parents had work in Lupinus, so they couldn't take us there at the time."

I stared down at my feet. "Shirotsume…" The image of the burning town and the sound of people screaming in agony refreshed itself in my memory. And the way the demon had casually immolated a defenseless child right in front of us…there was no way I would ever forget that sight. I felt sick at the high possibility that her family had died in that attack, because a rescue group from Blue Pegasus had done a thorough search in the aftermath and, last we heard, had found nothing but dead bodies and rubble—in other words, they hadn't found any survivors. It did seem odd to me that she seemed to live by herself here, even though she was barely my age.

Izarra, though, didn't seem to notice my brooding.

"At one point in the journey, a group of thugs ambushed us," she went on, lost in her story. "I think they were trying to steal the herbs we had. We were terrified beyond words…but Natsu managed to drive them away so easily, we couldn't believe it. My brother idolized him from that day on…and I won't lie; I was equally impressed by him, too. We didn't worry about a thing after that the rest of the way there, because we knew he'd protect us. He even said to us, 'I won't let anyone hurt you on my watch. I promise.'"

Erza smiled sadly herself. "Well, Natsu does have that effect on people," she said. "I don't blame you for taking a shine to him."

"I'm not surprised," she admitted with a grin. But that grin quickly faded as she stared down at the wooden floor. "Ever since then, my brother would go on and on about joining Fairy Tail as soon as he was old enough, so he could be as great a wizard as Natsu was…not even giving up faith that Natsu was still alive during Fairy Tail's seven-year disappearance."

She then paused at mentioning it. "I heard that the core group hadn't aged at all during those years thanks to some magic seal," she said, her voice holding an air of wonder, "but…seeing you in person right now…it's so unreal seeing you look so close to my age."

Wendy let a small, resigned laugh escape her. "Well, we don't understand it much, either, to be honest."

Izarra allowed herself a giggle of her own. "I don't blame you; I'm sure everybody else was just as confused." Her smile again melted away into a solemn expression. "My brother didn't care, though. He was just glad that you were all back. After you won in the first Grand Magic Games that you participated in since your return, he was even more excited about joining your guild…but things changed once—once these attacks started."

My heart turned to ice at what she was implying. Judging from the horrified expressions on Erza, Wendy, and Carla's faces, I could tell that they were thinking the same thing.

"Is…is your brother…?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to trip a fuse.

"He's not dead, if that's what you're thinking," she assured us. "He's just not home right now. But…we started hearing the news. Town after town, city after city was being ravaged by his idol…he wanted to deny it all to the very end, but then…we got news from a friend that Lupinus was eventually attacked, and our parents were counted among the casualties. The minute we learned of that…he became disillusioned." Her voice started shaking. "He started hating him…both Natsu and the Fairy Tail guild. He gave up learning magic, and he swore that he'd never forgive him for hurting so many people, for taking our family away…and for betraying his trust."

My friends and I could only listen in mute horror. We were speaking to a person whose life had been ruined by the deaths of her family—deaths caused by this demon exploiting a precious member of our own family. My hatred for it just refused to peak. It was unbelievable to see that we had (no matter how indirectly) made her life unbearably miserable…but still see that she still wasn't angry at us.

"But I still believe in him," she continued, struggling to steady her voice. "I mean—I just know that there's an explanation for all this. I've only known him for a day, and it's been years since I've last seen him, but…I could feel his honesty. I know that Natsu would never do something this horrible." She breathed deeply. "But…I've never said any of this to my brother. I don't want to lose the only family I've got left."

None of us knew what to say to this.

"…If that's the case, then I don't think we should stay here," Carla suggested quietly. "If your brother finds out that the one who killed his family is in his home, then—"

"Natsu didn't kill anyone, and you know it, Carla!" I cut in fiercely.

"Of course I do!" she retaliated, flustered. "But her brother doesn't know that! I'm only trying to look at this situation objectively! As far as he knows, Natsu is the one who murdered his family; there's no way around that! How are we supposed to explain the situation to him and expect him to change his mind at the start?!"

I hesitated. "I don't know, but—"

"This isn't the time to get emotional, Lucy," she scolded me. "The stakes are too high to get angry over things like this!"

"But I—"

The sudden sound of thumping and knocking at the wooden door startled the lot of us into silence, followed by a boy's voice calling, "Hey, Izzy! Someone in there with you?"

Izarra blanched. "Oh, no," she breathed in panic. "He's back!"

"Wh-what do we do?" Wendy asked frantically.

Before she could say anything, the door swung open—and a tall, caramel-haired teen got an eyeful of Natsu lying on one of his bunks.

Things happened so fast after that brief moment of silence that I couldn't register the event until it was over—in the span of a few short seconds.

They boy had lunged for Natsu's sleeping form on the bunk so quickly that I couldn't catch it in time to react, but Erza fortunately was able to block his path and intercept his weapon—which turned out to be a hunting knife.

Even after I'd processed the goings-on, I stayed frozen in shock. It was unbelievable—he'd actually tried to kill him! Right in front of everyone—even his sister!

"Get out of my way," he growled, straining to make Erza buckle.

Of course, she wasn't about to give—Erza shot him such a venomous glare that we all flinched away at the sight of it. "What do you think you're trying to pull here, attacking someone while they're half-dead?" she hissed threateningly. "If you want him, then you'll have to kill me first!"

"I told you to move it, lady!" he snapped lividly, struggling all the harder. "I don't care about you! It's him that I want!"

"And I told you," Erza grunted, "that won't be happening as long as I still breathe!"

"Ryusei, stop it!" Izarra cried in horror.

None of that would dissuade him. At that point, Wendy stepped in, her expression uncharacteristically stone-faced.

"Please step away from Natsu," she said calmly but firmly, "because we can't promise that things won't get ugly if you don't do so—right now."

I was startled to notice that there was a threatening edge to her tone that had never been there before. The boy named Ryusei seemed to notice it, too—he briefly flashed a furious glance in her direction before backing off, and clicked his hunting knife closed and pocketed it in his khaki shorts—which was smart on his part. Something about Wendy at that moment unsettled me for some reason.

Still, seeing as he couldn't take his anger out on Natsu, he apparently felt that he had to vent it somewhere…so he decided to turn on his sister instead. "What the hell were you thinking?!" he demanded furiously, whirling on the spot to face her in fury. "Why did you bring them here, you idiot?!"

Izarra wasn't afraid of her brother's flare in temper, though. She didn't flinch back or cower. She stood her ground as she retaliated, "Well, as it happens, Natsu saved my life tonight! If it weren't for him, I'd be dead now!"

He hadn't expected that. His eyes dilated in shock. "He what?!"

"And Erza's right!" she went on furiously while her brother struggled to recapture his argument. "What kind of monster tries to kill someone while they're unconscious?! You always go on about how you'll take revenge on him, but I didn't think you'd ever sink this low—if you could even pull it off in the first place! You're just being an ungrateful coward, Ryusei!"

"If anyone's a monster here, it's him!" Ryusei practically spat at his sister as he jabbed an accusing finger in Natsu's direction. He completely ignored her accusations as if they were irrelevant. "He's the one who destroyed half our kingdom! He's the one who took our family away from us! And you actually have the gall to defend him?!"

"I know it wasn't him!" she yelled at him in rebuttal. "And I know that you know that, too—just as well as I do! You just don't want to admit it because you don't want to deal with what that'll mean!"

"There's nothing for me to deal with! No matter how you look at it, he's the one that ruined our lives!"

It was then that I got completely fed up to the point that I got over my shock. I bolted to my feet, strode over to the bickering pair (ignoring Wendy and Erza, who tried and failed to stop me), and slapped Ryusei across the face. The stillness of that atmosphere at that moment was so palpable that I could feel it pressing against my chest. I could head my friends' shocked stares boring into my back, but I paid no attention to them as I glowered into Ryusei's startled eyes.

"I can't believe this," I said, my eyes prickling. "What is wrong with you? My friend is on the verge of dying, but he still saved your sister's life! Can't you suck up your petty hate for him even for a second to say a simple thank you?! He's the reason you still have family at all!" I could feel the fresh tear drops spilling awkwardly down my scarred cheeks as I continued with fervor, "I don't care how much you hate him, I don't care how much you hate me, and I don't care how much you hate Fairy Tail—but at least have the decency to act like an adult!"

Izarra stared at the both of us with a stunned expression. "Lucy…"

"I don't know what it was like between you and your family that made you like this, and I don't know how much you looked up to Natsu back then," I said, a painful lump forming in my throat, "but I know what it feels like to lose your parents. All of us know…and it hurts us every day, even until now. But we don't blame the world for letting that happen. There are things in life that we just can't keep from happening, and one of those things is death. But even besides that"—I wiped my tears away and continued indignantly—"you can't judge people without even knowing anything about them! You have no idea what Natsu's had to live through!"

"Lucy, calm down," Erza tried to reason with me, but I didn't even look at her. I'd backed Ryusei into a wall now, in all senses of the phrase, and I wasn't about to let this deed go unfinished.

"He's out there somewhere suffering right now—waiting for us to go and set him free of the monster that's possessing him! That demon is what's forcing him to watch as he destroys all these cities and kills all these innocent people! Are you really dense enough to think he's the one doing that?! If you're going to point fingers, at least figure out who actually deserves to be pointed at!"

"Lucy, please; that's enough!" Wendy pleaded, tugging at my arm gingerly to pull me away from him. "You shouldn't yell at him so much!"

There were more choice words that I wanted to fling at this insensitive jerk—so much more that I half-considered pushing Wendy away to go on with my rant and get rid of all this pent-up fury. But if I did that, I'd end up appearing more immature than the person I was yelling at. That would render everything I'd just said to him moot. I gritted my teeth and reluctantly allowed Wendy to pull me away from him—which was just as well, because we were interrupted right then by Natsu speaking.

"No…"

We all started at the unexpected sound of his voice, and we all fixed our attention in his direction, only to see him sitting upright, his head bowed. All of us save Ryusei rushed to his bunk. I was the first to reach him.

"Natsu?" I asked urgently. "What's the matter?"

He didn't seem to hear me. His complexion was paper-white in the cabin's lamplight, and his skin glistened with sweat. His eyes were open wide in terror at something invisible, and he was gripping onto the sheets so tightly that he was trembling. He kept muttering words we couldn't understand in the midst of his labored breathing.

"What's going on?" Wendy asked fearfully, holding Carla close. "He's never acted like this before!"

"My only guess is that the demon is somewhere close by," Erza said darkly as she watched. "Thanks to its wretched handiwork, his soul is still effectively one and the same. It's no surprise that the two parts still react as a whole on at least some level."

"You don't mean to say that it's found us, do you?" Carla asked uneasily.

"I'm really hoping that isn't the case," Erza admitted. "But…it very well could have. We shouldn't stay here any longer, or else these two could end up in serious danger."

"Guys, what's happening?" Izarra asked desperately. "What's wrong with him? Is he okay?"

"Clearly not," Carla huffed indignantly.

"In any case, we need to leave, now," Erza said firmly. "Lucy—"

"No, stop it!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly, his hands flying to his face and frightening the lot of us. "Stop it, please! No more! Leave them alone! Just leave them alone!"

"Natsu!" Wendy cried frantically.

My heart was hammering so hard, I was afraid that it'd burst out of my chest at any minute. Seeing Natsu like this was terrifying, more horrible than anything else I'd ever seen. Without thinking, I reached out and placed my hand on his wrist in an attempt to pull his hand away from his face, which felt slick and cold from the sweat. My fingers had barely brushed against his skin when he abruptly clamped his hands on my shoulders in a vice grip. I could feel the tension and desperation in this hold he had on me—consciously or not, he wanted someone, anyone to save him from all the pain he was suffering, and my chest tightened painfully when I realized it.

"Lucy!" Erza cried in a panic, reaching out as if to pull me away. I waved her down, not taking my eyes off of him.

"Don't worry about me; I'm fine," I said. I raised my hands and clasped his forearms as tightly as my frayed nerves would let me, and I began to speak.

"Natsu," I said, "it's me, Lucy. I don't know if you can hear me, but don't worry. I promise that everything will be okay. Nothing bad will happen to anybody else. We'll all do whatever it takes to free you, and you won't have to worry about hurting anyone ever again." I reached farther, under his arms and around his shoulders, and pulled him close. I could still feel him shivering uncontrollably, and it scared me seeing him so vulnerable so much that my words almost got lost on their way to my throat, but I swallowed and managed to say, "It's okay, Natsu…I promise…I promise that I'll save you."

I didn't know if I was imagining things, but his grip on me seemed to loosen slightly.

"I'm sorry," I heard him whisper in exhaustion, "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" I felt something cold drip in my bare shoulders. "P-please…don't…l-leave me…alone…"

He then fell silent, and his dead weight suddenly pressed against me—he was unconscious again.

Wendy shivered at the sight. "It…it didn't seem like he could hear us," she whispered. "Do you think that maybe…he was talking to somebody else?"

"Well, aren't you a clever one."

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of that voice. It didn't seem like it was coming from a single point—it reverberated all around us in the spacious cabin. The scariest thing was that it sounded…solid. The demon—it was close.

"No way…" I breathed shakily. "It…it found us…"

"Where's that voice coming from?" Izarra asked urgently, whipping her head around in search of an intruder. "Who is that?!"

"Oh, would you look at that! Looks like my favorite bunch of wizards made some new friends, eh? Wasn't expecting that to happen."

"What business do you have here?!" Erza demanded. "Come out and show yourself!"

"All in due time, Titania. I just came to pick something up that I left behind a couple days ago. You were there, if I remember correctly? You know what it is."

Erza recoiled in horror at the demon's words. "I'd sooner die than let you have him!" she yelled furiously.

"As much as I'd love to arrange that for you, I have other matters to attend to. There is a certain something that I need to take care of, and I'll lose my chance if I dawdle here. Not to mention that it's ever so tiring listening to this boy's constant screaming. It was fun at first, but it did get grating after a while. Thought I'd give you a taste of it before I permanently cut off communication, though. Just for fun."

I held Natsu all the tighter at its implications. "You monster," I said, my voice trembling. "Why can't you just leave him alone? He doesn't deserve to suffer like this! He's had to deal with enough already!"

"Well, I beg to differ. And I think one of your new friends disagrees, unless I'm mistaken."

We didn't need to wonder even for a minute for us to understand what it meant. Izarra stared in horror at her brother. "Ryusei?!"

He flinched guiltily at his sister's accusation, but he made no attempt to defend himself. I couldn't believe how immature he was acting even after getting an earful of my tirade.

"Ah, it's people like that one who make my existence so worthwhile. Dissent and bitterness are so easy to stir up in humans. They hurt and kill each other over silly reasons thanks to that! No wonder life loves toying with you."

Wendy blanched at those words. "Wh-what?"

"He's never aware of it, mind you, but it's not as if he's on the side of good. All he wants is balance. Why do you think so many people choose to end themselves in this world? He makes people utterly miserable!"

"If that's the case, then why are you working against him like this?!" Carla snapped furiously. "It's not as if he's making your own contrived existence any worse!"

"That's not for you or anyone else to know, little kitty, so keep your nose out of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd appreciate it if you behave while I pick up what I left behind."

The demon's voice then vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but the ominous presence was still there. I made to brace myself for the worst—and realized that I couldn't move.

"Wh-what the—" I exclaimed in surprise, trying fruitlessly to twitch even a finger. "What happened?!"

"I…I can't move!" Erza grunted—so I wasn't the only one completely paralyzed.

"Wendy, can't you do something about this?" Carla asked urgently, her voice unsteady.

"I-I'm trying," Wendy answered helplessly. "But this doesn't feel like magic—I can't make it go away!"

"What's going on?" Izarra cried in a panic.

"Well, well…this sure brings back memories," sounded the demon's voice again, from right outside this time. We all turned to look (we still had mobility above the shoulders), and what we saw in in front of the still-closed door threatened to stop our hearts. How did it get in here without us noticing?

"No way…" Ryusei gasped, trembling in bewilderment. "There's no way…how…how is…j-just what the hell is this?!"

"This is the last straw!" Erza yelled in anger, struggling against her invisible bonds. "You despicable monster! How dare you?!"

Wendy's eyes were hollow in shock as it nonchalantly strolled toward us. "It…there's…" She almost couldn't get her next words out, but that didn't matter. The sight alone cemented the reality of this nightmare.

It stopped next to the bed, next to me and Natsu—I could feel him trembling beneath my arms again, like he could feel the demon's presence here. I couldn't do much else besides glaring up at it in fury.

"Just look at you," it said, gazing down at me in a way that came off as condescending. "You're looking just as plucky as last time, though dare I say that you look even more stunning now…thanks to those beautiful new scars of yours."

I gritted my teeth furiously. "Why do you look like that?" I demanded, ignoring his comments. I felt too upset at the situation at hand to feel afraid of it. "Is this another one of your sick jokes?!"

It raised a hand and pointed at himself. "Oh, this? Funny story, actually—I don't think you'll believe me when I say this, sweetie, but I didn't actually try to look like this." It grinned in amusement. "Honestly, though, what were you expecting? Didn't dear old life tell you? I used your friend's soul to create this body—it's only natural for my appearance to resemble his."

"You liar!" I screamed, tears of anger springing in my eyes. I knew how irrational I was acting, but I just couldn't help it. "This is just another trick!"

"Incorrigible as always. Though that is what I love about you." It lowered itself to my level so it could see me eye to eye. "Hadn't exactly planned on this, but…I'll tell you what. You know that I can be considerate if I want to be. And you've caught my interest since day one, and I let you live on more than one occasion because of that." It tilted its head to the side with a knowing smile. "Of course, I also know that you care deeply for this Natsu fellow, and you'll be pretty broken up if I took him from you right now. Since I'd hate to let your friends see that lovely face of yours marred by grief, here's what I'll do—I'll take you with me as well. If you agree, I'll leave the rest of your little friends alone. How does that sound?"

My breath caught in my throat. Did I seriously just hear it say that to me?

"No!" Wendy cried frantically. "Don't! You can't take them away!"

"Don't listen to that fiend, Lucy!" Carla shouted in warning. "It's definitely a trick!"

The demon shot them an irritated glare, and immediately their voices were stifled—their mouths were glued shut. That didn't stop them, though—they were screaming at me with their wide eyes to not listen to the demon.

"Honestly, humans have such convenient lapses in memory when they're angry," it sighed as it turned back to me with a disgruntled look on its face. "It's rather annoying. You'll just go to any lengths to go on hating something, even when it's unreasonable." It then straightened up and stared at me inquisitively. "So, what'll it be? Time is ticking, my dear."

I lowered my head and bit my lip; I could feel myself hesitating. I didn't want Natsu to be taken away and killed. I didn't want my other friends to get hurt by the demon. If I let the demon take Natsu away and leave me here, it would make sure that we all suffered, and Natsu would wind up gone forever. Even if I refused and tried to fight back, the same thing would end up happening. But if I agreed…

"…Lucy?" Erza asked, sounding worried. She must have seen the look on my face. "What do you think you're—"

"Before I say anything, let me ask you something," I said, disregarding her words.

"Of course. Ask away."

I took a deep breath and continued, "Okay. Let's say that I agree to this. What do you mean when you say that you won't hurt my friends?"

"What a silly thing to ask." It held out a hand in reassurance. "I meant exactly what I said. You come along with me and your precious Natsu, and I will neither harm nor kill anyone you love and care about. All I ask in return is that you cooperate with me…as difficult as that might be for you."

Still I hesitated. "But…how will I know that you're telling the truth?"

The demon looked like it was trying really hard not to burst into laughter at my question. Normally, I would've gotten upset at that, but I couldn't be angrier than I already was right now.

"…Well, see; that's the thing, princess," it teased as it lowered itself to my level again. "There's no way for you to know. But…if you do agree, you might be able to spare your friends even more painful suffering…or, maybe you won't. Knowing that, are you still willing to take your chances?"

The demon was clearly enjoying itself. I could hear it in its voice. I had no way to know if it was being sincere or just playing me for a fool. It would be stupid of me to trust it outright simply because it kept its word that one time before—it had slaughtered our master right afterward, after all. From what I'd seen of it, it worked on the factor of absolutes—which made it even harder for me to trust what it was promising.

And to wit, I had no idea what would happen if I said yes. The demon would take me and Natsu away from our friends…but then what? What was it going to do besides torture us (and in Natsu's case, even more) since it already had pretty much everything it had wanted? It had already possessed Natsu's body, beaten me to near-death twice, murdered our guildmaster, unleased a horrific terrorist attack and spread chaos all throughout Fiore, stolen Natsu's soul, and made a (as of yet impermanent) body for itself out of it—all with Natsu probably watching. What else could it possibly want?

I was caught between a rock and a hard place, in all respects. Should I risk trying to figure out what else lay in its motivations? Or should I play it safe and fight back?

After a moment of deliberation, I made my decision. I raised my head and locked my gaze on the demon's, and—before I could change my mind—said two words.

"I'll go."

I think I've gotten rusty from literally not writing anything ever since I updated this last up to last week. It feels weird.

Okay, guys; don't ask me how many chapters this story will have. 'Cause I really have no clue. How much can I squeeze in without it seemingly overstaying its welcome?

Well, at least plot-relevant things are finally happening again. I know I promised that I'd fix the slowness of this story, and a lot of this chapter probably felt irrelevant to the plot…which is totally understandable, but trust me on this. Okay?

And this is probably the last update for this story I'll be able to manage before I leave on a week-long camping trip mid-June, which SUCKS because I really want to get this next part out to you guys. But…we'll just have to wait. I'll be working on it, of course; I just won't be able to update anything until I get back…which is when summer session starts. ARGH. DX

…Anyway. I'll see you all then. Hopefully.