GUESS WHO'S NOT GONE YET?

Also, WARNING for some possibly disturbing imagery/implications ahead, in the first two sections. Read at your own risk! (Seriously. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

To Zangetsu50 and others wondering the same thing: There wasn't a detailed description of the demon last chapter because of the situation at hand. Keep in mind that it was a scenario told in a first-person narrative by Lucy. Would it be likely for her to stop to pay attention to the finer details of the demon's appearance other than it looking like Natsu at that moment? And besides all that, I want you to use your imagination about what it looks like. I'll give a better description for it in this update, but try imagining what it would look like in your mind before I go into more depth here. ;)

To f . tastarossa: Yay! :D

To KIKR15: Sure, it was a pleasure. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing; I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter! Don't worry; you're not sounding mean. And I'm glad I got that reaction out of you!

To Justice Tokidoki: We've already held a lengthy discussion, but I'm still glad that you enjoyed this chapter in spite of the shortcomings you saw. Hopefully this chapter will remedy that.

To Devin Walker (guest): Thank you so much; I'm glad you like it! :3 Ending is still up in the air though, so watch for that!

Ch. 16: The Kiss Of Death

Lucy

"Ow!"

I hit rock like a sack of bricks. At the very least, though, I didn't land on my face. That would've really been unpleasant.

"Geez," I complained, sitting up and rubbing my sore hip. "Couldn't that landing have been a little softer? If I'm gonna play hostage, then you should at least be decent about your part!"

I heard the demon's cackling laughter from somewhere above me. "Wow, it's only been about three seconds," it chortled, "and you're already reminding me of how much fun you are. I should've held onto you from the beginning."

"Count your lucky stars that you didn't," I snapped. "Where in the heck are we, anyway?"

"That's not important, is it?" it said matter-of-factly; the sound of its voice moved somewhere behind me. "Don't worry; no one will bother us here for a while."

I'd been too distracted by my rough landing to really take note of my surroundings, but I tried to focus now. We were in some sort of underground cavern—it was solid rock, not ice. So we weren't on Mount Hakobe this time—not to mention it was much larger, with a ceiling so high that it was lost in the blackness, and (for some reason) with brighter lighting, so I could at least tell that it was a rock cavern. To my far right, a chasm that could fit Mercurius in its gaping maw with plenty of room to spare yawned threateningly, and I instinctively scooted away from it, even though I was nowhere near it. Where was this?

Not to mention, the fact that I was stuck in another cave with it sort of irked me. I mean, for a crafty demon, it was doing a pretty bad job of thinking of interesting places to hide.

"You know," the demon began, still behind me, "not many hostages complain about the originality of their prison. Sure you've got your priorities straight, princess?"

What the heck; was the demon reading my mind now? I felt violated. I moved to place my feet underneath me in order to stand up—but the moment I placed my hands on the cave floor, I realized that I was alone.

"Natsu?!" I cried in a panic, shooting to my feet and searching wildly but seeing no sign of him. "Natsu, where are you?!"

"Relax, sweetheart; he's fine," the demon said, sounding somewhat distracted. "For the time being, at least."

I whirled around—and saw him against the opposite wall, still unconscious, about ten feet away. Literally against—something was pinning him to it…something I couldn't see. The demon was right next to him, leaning casually against his right shoulder and holding his chin as he moved his head around, as if it was inspecting minute features in his face, and paid me no attention.

It was utterly surreal seeing two Natsus in the same place. They weren't identical, exactly—the demon's appearance was more…feral, I guess was the best word. Its hair, its face, even its clothes—they looked wilder, more animal-like and less human than the actual Natsu's, but it could still pass as him from a distance. I never thought that that was actually possible. Taking in its appearance now—right next to the real one—made me even angrier.

"Geez, you're still upset about that?" it murmured irritably, staring intently at Natsu's face. "I told you already that I didn't purposely try to look like your friend."

My fists clenched so tightly, I could feel my nails digging into my palms (not a good thing; my skin was still kind of tender). "And do you seriously expect me to believe you?" I growled through gritted teeth. "After everything you did and said to us?"

"Fair point." The demon tilted Natsu's head to the right and studied the scar on his neck, still not bothering to look at me. "And I suppose I did choose my appearance, if only indirectly. If I had taken any other human's soul, I would have shared their appearance. But it works only if I'd already inhabited that body for some time. An irritating limitation, but I work with what I have."

I pursed my lips. Apparently, for once the demon was actually telling the truth, because it sounded genuinely miffed after voicing that particular thought.

"It was easier with this one, though," it mused, releasing Natsu's chin and letting his head hang loosely as it stepped back once to observe him like he was some sort of painting. "I'm not sure what it is, but…he's definitely more than human."

"You said that before," I said, feeling confused in spite of the anger. "So—so not even you know what it means?"

"Unfortunately," it sighed in a dissatisfied way. "Wish I could keep him around to try and figure that out."

A vice clamped around my heart when it said those words. It was all too clear what its intentions were.

"W-wait a second!" I cried frantically in an attempt to distract it. "It's not possible that you don't know! I mean—I thought all Dragon Slayers were like that! Aren't they?"

"No, I'm afraid that's not it," it said, opening its hand and summoning a knife—yet another thing the real Natsu couldn't do. "I thought that was the case at first, but…no, he's not like those other Dragon Slayers." It paused for a moment before hefting the knife and chuckling in amusement. "Well, go figure. At least that made things easier for me in that department. This, however…"

Before I could even think about pulling up the air in my lungs to protest, it raised the knife and slashed over Natsu's neck—the jugular, judging from the position and the amount of blood that spewed out. Droplets of his blood splattered on the limestone walls and floor, and I couldn't do anything but scream once in horror. I just barely noticed Natsu twitch and wince slightly in the wake of the attack.

But in that same movement, the cut had already disappeared, only the blood covering the right side of his neck and chin betraying its existence. I couldn't believe my eyes, but the demon clicked its tongue in annoyance.

"This…is going to make things pretty annoying," it grumbled, licking some of the blood off of the knife and staring shrewdly at the spot where it had cut him. "Really; it takes all the entertainment value out of killing him. Leave it to dear old Life to makes things all the more difficult."

"What…" I could hardly get the words out; I was so shocked. "How did…what just happened…?"

"Oh, you mean he never got around to explaining it?" it asked, lowering the bloodied knife. "It's rather simple. So long as Life sticks around in this empty sack of meat, I can't leave any lasting marks on it. He heals it right up. Not that it's voluntary on his part, mind you; he's just doing his job. But…he can't keep it up forever." It grinned in what I guess it took to be happiness as it went on. "In just twelve short hours, he'll run out of strength, and that's when I can deliver the finishing blow. It's commendable that he's made it this far, actually. But in the end, all that will await him is death."

"You…you wouldn't!" I shouted, stepping forward defiantly. "There's no way you'd do that!"

"Really? Is that what you think?" It raised the knife again, smiling at me in pity. "How sad. And here I thought you knew me."

It brought the knife down again—right across Natsu's right side. More blood splashed against the white limestone and soaked his clothes, and again the wound closed as quickly as it had opened.

Natsu didn't react that time, I noticed somewhere in the back of my mind. He can't possibly be…

Unfortunately, the demon noticed it, too.

"Oh, now that's interesting…" it said to itself in curiosity. "Hmm…"

It took its knife and experimentally cut a clean line down Natsu's right palm, drawing even more blood. As expected, the wound closed, and there was no reaction. Then, without lifting the knife, it moved it up the length of his arm, all the way to the shoulder, as if he was planning on performing an open dissection on it.

That entire time, I wanted so badly to stop it from hurting Natsu like that and treating him like a plaything—I wasn't sure how, but I really wanted to do something to get it away from him somehow…but that probably wasn't the best idea. I hated to admit this to myself, but I wasn't strong enough to subdue it on my own. One wrong move, and either Natsu or I would end up dead.

Even worse, the demon's actions were having a visible effect on Natsu—the closer the knife moved to the shoulder, the more apparent his discomfort was. By the time it had actually reached his shoulder, he was actually hyperventilating, and beads of sweat were forming on his brow. To top all that off, the demon had apparently discovered something about this phenomenon that I hadn't, because once it noticed Natsu's reactions to the knife wound it was tracing down his arm, it started laughing hysterically—the awful sound of it echoed throughout the vast cavern.

"Ha, would you look at that!" it shouted in glee, finally lifting that horrible knife away from Natsu's arm and letting the injury close up completely as it threw its hands up in elation. "My old friend's been holding out on me! Ohh, that sneaky bastard! Thought you'd pulled a fast one on me, had you?"

I was thoroughly confused, not to mention terrified. What could the demon have possibly discovered for it to celebrate like this?

"Confused, aren't you?" it asked me enthusiastically. "Yes, I can see it on your face, plain as day. That put me in a good mood, so I'll tell you." It then turned to face me and put on that horrible grin again, relishing in my horrified expression. "He's essentially given me a way to get your friend to check out early! How's that for a surprise, huh?" It laughed again as I gasped in horror. "Wow…that was just too good."

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" I demanded in a panic. I broke out in a cold sweat. "That—that doesn't make any sense! How are you—?!"

"I really should've seen this coming." It shook its head in disbelief. "I mean, it makes too much sense, when it all comes down to it. I thought that that would be too easy…but no! It really was as simple as it first seemed."

"That's not an answer!" I yelled. I was getting really close the end of my ropes here.

"You're just too dense to describe with words," the demon sighed in mock sympathy. "Isn't it obvious to you? Or"—it raised its knife and rested its sharp edge right below his left collarbone, poised to slice—"do you need another demonstration for it to sink in?"

In the shock and intensity of that moment, the answer was suddenly all-too obvious. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it that way before, and I wanted to hit myself for missing something like that. Then again, the demon hadn't considered that from the get-go, either.

"I don't need it," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "So put that away right now, or else you'll regret having brought me here!"

"Aw, don't be that way, hon," it crooned teasingly, releasing its hold on the knife and letting it vanish. "Please, you know I wouldn't dream of crossing you. The bane of all existence; that's what you are."

"If you think you're being funny," I said, letting some of my anger slip, "try again. It's really not doing it for me."

"No one said I was trying to be funny," it said lightly. "No one but you, that is. Does that mean that you're still in denial?"

I clenched my jaw, but I didn't say anything back. It was trying to bait me into insecurity again, and I wasn't about to let it. If I lost my grip here, then I would have blown effectively every single chance I'd gotten to fix everything—especially for Natsu's sake. I wasn't going to let him down like that. I'd made a promise to him, and I had every intention of keeping it—even if I ended up killing myself.

"No answer, huh? That's fine." It crossed its arms and gazed at me in such a way that it made a shiver run down my back. I wasn't sure why that had happened; it wasn't like I was scared of it. It didn't even look particularly upset, either.

"I'll have you know," it began after a moment of silence, making me flinch. "I didn't bring you here to kill you or anything. I've had my fill of fun from you in that department, so I thought of some other way I could have you entertain me as we kill some time."

I could feel myself blanch. Whatever it had in mind, I knew it wouldn't be pleasant. "What…what do you mean?" I asked cautiously.

"You don't have to do anything," it promised me. "Just stay right there and sit quietly like a proper little lady, okay? I didn't take back your friend's body just to play piñata with it." It took hold of Natsu's chin again and raised his head. "I just want to speed things up a bit."

"That doesn't tell me anything! And get your filthy hands off of him, you freak!"

"Oh, then you'd rather I do it the more unpleasant way?" it asked me in false surprise. "Well, I could always carve a hole into his chest right now, cut out his heart, and hand it to you as a gift as your friend bleeds out. Would you like that? Or would you prefer the less painful route, which I'm about to take? I'm up for every option, blondie."

"Here's an option," I said furiously, my fingers locked around my keys. "I count to three, and you get your dirty hands off of him before then—or else I'll lop them off!"

The demon whistled appreciatively. "Feisty!" it remarked. It still wouldn't let go of him. "Remind me to never cross you again."

"By the time that happens, it'll be too soon," I snapped. "And I told you to let him go! I don't want to have to get violent on you!"

"Nor do I on you," it said. It sounded pleasantly aloof, but there was a dangerous edge to its voice that sent up red flags. "Which is exactly why I asked you to sit there quietly like the good little lady you used to be. But…if you won't do that, then I'll have to take matters into my own hands."

The demon didn't appear to move as it spoke, but it flashed a sharp look in my direction, and I was suddenly froze in place again—just like back at the cabin. This time, my mouth forcibly shut itself, and I couldn't open them again no matter what I tried. I panicked—now there was no way for me to fight back, or even say anything in retaliation as it returned its attention to Natsu. I was completely helpless. I stared in horror as it leaned in close, so close that their noses were practically touching. And it was still leaning in closer. In that brief, horrible moment, it dawned on me what it was planning on doing.

No way, I thought in disgust and fury. There's no way it's actually going to—!

But it did. I could do nothing but let out muffled screams as it locked lips with him.

The demon was kissing Natsu.

Natsu

Color me confused and freaked out.

I honestly couldn't remember what happened to me. The last thing I clearly remembered doing was telling my friends to get away from me as I was pulling Erza's spear out of my gut (and holy hell had that been painful), but everything after that was…not exactly a blank, but a blur of color and sound that I couldn't really make any sense of. I'm not sure what to call that experience—it was too weird.

Also, trying to remember what had happened after that was…painful. Not really in the physical sense (I'm really not sure what my current state of being was); it just hurt every time. A lot. Eventually, I just quit trying—it just wasn't worth the constant pain. Like everybody, I had a pain threshold, and the pain resulting from trying to remember events after I pulled out that spear was mine. I didn't want to deal with that anymore on top of everything else.

Not to mention, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference even if I did remember what had happened afterwards. The stupid demon had probably gone around doing the same thing as before. Besides, everything that had happened before that was enough to put a serious damper in my spirits.

I'd destroyed too many towns and cities and caused too many casualties resulting from that for me to count. It had gotten to the point where I just grew numb to the act of killing people and destroying cities—it didn't hurt as much that way.

Still, that didn't mean I had to like it. I hated that I had to resort to not caring about murdering people in order to feel better—it completely went against everything I stood for—but I really couldn't find a better avenue. I don't know; maybe I would regret feeling this way later—if I had a 'later'. It was really all just up in the air at this point.

I vaguely wondered what was going on right now. I wasn't totally sure, because for some reason I couldn't tell what the demon was doing anymore. It had probably gone up to another level of hijacking after that spear incident, or something, and had gone on to hurt even more people.

…Look, I'm sorry, but I'm really locked out of the loop here. I have no idea what's going on right now; don't expect me to be able to explain anything.

Out of nowhere, I felt something tugging at me. It felt almost vacuum-like, like something was trying to suck me away somewhere else (wherever here was to begin with). For a second, I was almost tempted to let it take me, just so I could find out where it went—but common sense and guts told me that that was a totally stupid idea. Who was to say that the destination would be a good thing for me? Especially since I had no clue where it would take me to begin with, and where I was right now was because of the demon. Nothing good could really come of this.

So I resisted—to the best of my ability. Right now, I just had to stay put. Even if I had to pull back at the force trying to do the same to me, I wasn't gonna let it take me anywhere. So I pulled back.

That was when the brunt of the weirdness kicked in. See, I was pretty sure that I hadn't moved anywhere—and if I had, I hadn't gone far.

But for some reason, I suddenly found myself in a dimly lit room. I looked around, totally confused because this place wasn't familiar to me, and noticed the crumbling stone walls around me and the disheveled and worn furniture scattered about, with a single lamp hanging from the ceiling, and there was a battered wooden door to my right. There wasn't anybody around, and I considered getting out of this place in order to figure out where the heck I was. I hardly even noticed that the force that had been pulling on me before was gone.

A harsh voice interrupted my pondering, making me jump.

"What in the world were you two thinking?!" a man's voice sounded from behind the wooden door. The sound of footsteps came from behind it—several sets of feet. Someone was coming.

I felt nervous. What would the people think when they came in and found me standing in the middle of their house? I'd probably get chased out or beaten up or something; I'm pretty sure I wasn't the most popular guy around anymore.

But it was too late for me to try and make an escape, and there was no adequate place for me to hide. When the door slammed open and several people wearing cloaks stormed in through it, I braced myself for the worst and tried to think of a good excuse as to why I was standing in their house without any reason, but they completely ignored me. A man was about to walk right into me, and I didn't want to risk being plowed over—so I backed out of the way. He strode right past me like I was invisible, dragging a younger person along behind him (a girl, judging from the cries of protest), and forced her into a worn armchair. An older woman was pulling along a small boy—definitely younger than the girl that the man had pulled in, probably only six or seven years old—and hurriedly closed the door behind them as they entered. The little boy looked confused and scared, staring warily at the man.

They didn't seem to notice me, either.

Am I invisible or something? I wondered. I raised my hands and looked down at them—I could see them just fine, so I wasn't invisible. Was this some kind of dream, then, where I was invisible to everybody but myself? How did this happen, anyway? It made no sense!

"Explain yourself right now, Leia," the man ordered the seated girl as the older woman and the boy scooted off to the far side of the room. "What were you doing with that boy? I thought I told you to stay away from him!"

The girl pulled off her hood, and I just about had a heart attack—she was practically identical to Lucy. I knew it wasn't her, though—her parents were both dead, and these two adults were more likely than not to be this Leia girl's parents—and that kid was probably her younger brother. Lucy was an only child, as far as I knew.

This was too weird. What was going on? Who were these people, and why was I seeing this?

"We were just talking!" she argued vehemently. "Dad, he's not a bad person! He's just lonely! I don't see what's wrong with him at all!"

"He's dangerous; that's what's wrong with him!" her dad shouted back. "He's killed people, Leia! You saw what he did to old man Eiden!"

"It wasn't on purpose; he was just trying to protect himself! He wouldn't have done anything if Mr. Eiden hadn't been so cruel to him!" She jabbed an accusatory finger at her father's chest. "Maybe if people actually took the time to get to know who he is and why he's like that, things like this wouldn't be happening in the first place! He's only killing people because people like you treat him like garbage, and you have no idea how much he hates that!"

"Do you seriously expect us to believe that after all that he's done?! If he hates being treated like garbage, then he should have the decency to leave!"

"Maybe he would, if he actually had anywhere to go!" she shouted. "He told me the only reason he even stays here is because this place is all he knows! If you had even an ounce of sympathy, you'd know how hard that is!" She then shot to her feet, her furious face inches away from her dad's startled one. "And just so you know, he doesn't care about being treated like garbage—he cares that he's killing people! He hates that people end up dead when they hurt him! Maybe you should take that to heart and apply it!" She roughly shoved past her father and stormed away, disappearing into a corridor that I hadn't noticed before. Her mother tried to stop her, but she completely ignored her, too—she vanished into the corridor and I heard the distinct sound of a door slamming.

The house was uncomfortably silent after that. I felt like I'd just witnessed something that I shouldn't have, and I felt pretty guilty about it, even though I really had no reason to be.

The man just stared in the direction his daughter had gone and said, "What are we to do with that girl…"

"Dear, maybe you shouldn't have been so hard on her," the mother spoke for the first time. "I know you're worried for her safety—"

"Of course I'm worried!" he said, sounding exasperated. "Why can't she see that I just want to keep her safe? I've already lost one child, and I don't want to suffer that again!"

The mother looked pained. "I know," she said softly. "But you should have more faith in your daughter. She's strong-willed."

No kidding, lady, I thought. She scares me almost as much as Lucy.

"Strong-willed doesn't mean invincible," he fretted, rubbing his face with his hands in an effort to calm himself. "She just doesn't understand…that boy is cursed. No matter what she says, he is still a danger to everyone." He exhaled heavily before slouching off to the corridor.

When he vanished from sight, the little boy tugged on his mother's cloak.

"Mommy?" he asked.

The mother lowered herself to his level and stroked his head. "What is it, sweetie?"

"Why does Daddy hate that boy so much? Is it because he makes people go to sleep?"

"…Yes, honey," she whispered after a brief moment of silence, a trace of sadness in her words. "He doesn't like that boy because he does that."

"But Mommy," he insisted, his brown eyes wide, "he always looks so sad. And Daddy told me and Big Sis before that you need to be nice to sad people to make them happy."

The mother smiled wistfully. "Yes," she said, "he did."

"And—and I think that the boy is sad all the time because he doesn't like making them sleep," he said. "Why won't Daddy let us be nice to him and make him happy?"

The mother was at a loss for words—she didn't know how to answer his question. Kids really knew how ask the armor-piercing questions that adults always found so difficult to explain to them. I had that trouble myself with little kids—not that I ever held serious conversations with them, but still.

"I don't know, Lester," she said at last. "I'm sorry."

The little boy—Lester, she'd called him—shook his head and hugged her. "Don't be sorry, Mommy. You're not the one who made him sad."

She smiled again, this time apologetically, as she returned to gesture. "Thank you," she said. "That's sweet of you to say."

I'll admit; that sight made my heart ache a little. I actually envied that little boy. I wondered if that was what having a mother was like. I couldn't remember ever having one. Every time I heard or thought of the word parent, the ones that always came to mind were either Igneel or Gramps…and just my luck, I was the reason that I didn't have either of them anymore.

Man, I didn't know what to think with that. I probably would've felt more devastated if I hadn't shut off my empathy-switch to specifically avoid feeling was going to happen to Fairy Tail now that I (no, the demon. It was the demon, not me. Not me, the demon! It was all the demon!) had offed him? Who was gonna be the new master? How was Fairy Tail gonna get by once the public heard about that on top of everything else? It would totally ruin them!

Before I could rag on myself for potentially ruining Fairy Tail forever any further, my surroundings suddenly melted away into blackness—right before color came back and decided to paint a completely different scene for me to be stuck in.

I was outside now, standing in the outskirts of a town—the same town that I'd just been in. (Don't ask me how I knew that, because I'm just as clueless as you are.) Behind me was a whole field of tombstones. Of all the places I had to be at, it had to be in a piece of property with a whole town's worth of dead people buried in it. Way to rub salt in the wound with extreme prejudice, you stupid dream.

…Yeah. Karma's a real jerk like that.

I was so busy feeling angry at my horrible luck landing me here that I almost failed to notice that someone else was here with me. Right at the edge of the field where the line of tombstones began, a guy was sitting in front of one, all by himself. He looked a bit close to that Leia girl's age, maybe younger. He was skinny, pale, had oily-black hair, and was wearing nothing but rags.

For some reason, something about this guy felt familiar to me. Out of curiosity, I decided to go and take a closer look at him in order to confirm these feelings. Since it was sunset, I had a hard time making out his features thanks to all the bending shadows, but I managed to get a hold on it once I got close enough—and I just about had a coronary when I saw that I did recognize him.

This kid was a younger version of Zeref!

That revelation made me back up a couple steps in shock. No way…Zeref had been immortal, right? So if Zeref was looking like a kid here, then…I was way more than four hundred years in the past right now!

Dear God; what was going on here?!

I didn't have time to even try to figure anything out, because the scene changed again. I was back in the house I'd been in before, only this time it was empty and even more run-down, like no one had lived here for a really long time. Was it years later? Did the family leave this home? If that was the case, why was I back? And what did this family have to do with Zeref in the first place?

Against my better judgment, I decided to explore the house. I went through the decrepit kitchen, which was dusty and filthy, with piles of unwashed dishes in the sink. I went out the back door of the house, to see if anybody was outside, but no one was there. I then backtracked to the main room and went down the dark and musty corridor. I reached a door, and I moved to open it—my hand passed right through the doorknob.

"Whoa!" I pulled my hand back in surprise, and stared at the door for a second before turning my attention to my hand. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with my hand; I could feel it just fine. So this wasn't really a dream?

I stood there in the dark there for a minute, wondering what I should do next. I placed my hand on the wall right next to the door—and sure enough, my hand passed right through again, like I was some kind of ghost.

There was nothing else for it. Without pulling my hand out, I stepped through the wall. It passed by me in a blur of gray, and I was inside the room. Aside from an unmade bed, a cabinet, and a desk, it was empty.

This feels weird… I thought. Really weird…but it's convenient…I guess?

No one was here, so I decided to check the other rooms. I passed right through the door this time, and I was back in the hallway. I moved down the hall and stuck my head through each door as I passed them after checking to make sure that this place wouldn't pull a fast one on me and make me bonk my head somewhere like an idiot.

But there was nothing worth noting in those rooms, either.

I started to feel a bit annoyed. If there wasn't anything worth seeing in this house, why was I even back here? Was whatever sort of higher being just messing with my head at this point?

Then I suddenly heard a scream—it sounded like the mother from the first time I'd been here. Without even thinking, I ran in search of the sound. It led me to the main room, and it seemed to come from behind a door that I hadn't noticed before. I made a mad dash toward it, but my incorporeal state decided to fail me at the worst possible time—I hit the door hard and landed on my back.

Unfazed, I immediately jumped back to my feet and tried to pry the door open, not even considering the possible consequences from not being invisible anymore, but I couldn't open it. It wasn't locked, but the door was jammed shut.

Goddamn it. Why wouldn't anything go right for me anymore?

Since I couldn't open the door, all I could do was clench my fingers fruitlessly around the doorknob and listen to the terrified screams on the other side. I could hear the little boy from before screaming hysterically, "MOMMY! DADDY! WAKE UP, WAKE UP! BIG SIS, YOU GOTTA HELP THEM!"

I didn't like the implications behind those words. Are they…dead? I thought to myself, feeling highly uncomfortable. What…what's happening in there?

There were dead and dying people on the other side of this door. Deaths that for once weren't being caused by me. And I still couldn't do anything about it. Helpless couldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling right then.

"NO! LEAVE THEM ALONE; LEAVE THEM ALONE! STOP IT!" I heard the boy shriek again. "STOP IT; DON'T HURT US! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED US! I THOUGHT YOU LOVED US, BIG SIS!"

Those words sent a horrible chill down my spine. No way… A lump formed in my throat as beads of sweat streaked down my brow, and I struggled to swallow. There's no way in hell that's actually what's happening…right?

Then again, the universe just seemed to love proving me wrong at every given opportunity.

"DON'T DO IT!" the boy screamed. "DON'T DO IT; PLEASE, DON'T HURT—"

His words suddenly cut off—and the house was deadly quiet in the wake of his shouting. For a moment, it stayed that way—then an extremely sickening wave of energy emanated from that door. It was so horrible that I felt nauseous just standing near it. It reeked of power…evil…death.

That was it. I couldn't take this. I wrenched my hand off of the doorknob and backed away from the door as far as the building would let me (whatever was behind making me see these freaky scenes was not about to give me any more opportunities to get away from this), pressing my back against the wall and doing my best not to hyperventilate. Whatever was behind that door was something I somehow knew I wouldn't be able to do anything about.

"Disgusting…"

My heart nearly stopped at the sound of that voice. It was coming from behind the door. The power behind it threatened to bring me to my knees—definitely not helping the crippling nausea I was still feeling.

"Humans are foolish…to think that they can cheat me…"

The door then began to open…slowly…bit…by…bit. I didn't want to look; I didn't want to see what was behind it—I didn't want to be right—but I was frozen. I couldn't look away. Something was forcing me to watch, forcing me to watch to the very end. The voice was getting stronger, less reverberating, as the door creaked open even further. There was anger, bitterness, hurt in the voice. But most of all…there was sadness.

And I couldn't understand why.

"Humans…truly deplorable beings…believing that they are capable of running from me…believing they can rule me…they are…utterly incorrigible."

"No," I said to myself out loud, trying my hardest not to panic. "No, there's no way; that can't—that can't be what I think it is—it's not—"

"Humans…they fear me…they refuse my embrace. They reject it…in turn, they reject me. To them…I am a monster. A demon…incapable of understanding their pain. They…wish me gone."

I could eventually see a hunched silhouette as the door opened all the wider. It was humanlike, sallow and dark. It stepped forward, out into the main room. The nausea was overwhelming now; I had to work to stay conscious.

"Very well…if they reject me…so be it. If all they see of me is that of a demon…so be that as well."

The figure raised its head—and I saw furious sadness laid bare on Leia's pale face, tears of anger streaking down her cheeks from her blank, blood-red eyes.

"For denying my place in this world," she vowed, "and for denying this girl's eternal rest…I will fulfill their vision. I will bring down upon them…the pain they so desperately desire!"

"NO!" I bellowed—and everything around me went black one last time.

Lucy

I was seeing something that was never supposed to be seen. By all logic and reason, this wasn't supposed to happen.

But how could I deny it? Not five feet away from me, the demon had locked lips with Natsu. I couldn't even begin to figure out why it was doing this, but I had a feeling that it was doing this for a reason other than just completely grossing me out.

I was still paralyzed; I couldn't even twitch my fingers. I never thought I'd ever be this upset at myself. I had everything in my arsenal now. My head was (more or less) clear, and I was prepared to fight it out. My fingers were clutching my keys; I desperately wanted to call out a spirit to help me get that demon away from him—but with my lips sealed shut, what could I do? Loké was still back with the rest of Fairy Tail, helping with the recovery efforts, and I didn't want to take him away from that.

I was so frustrated that I wanted to cry. How was I supposed to keep my promise like this?

Suddenly, the demon jerked away from Natsu, breaking the kiss. Judging from the shocked expression on its face, it hadn't been expecting to be pushed away. But what had made it—?

I did a double take, and I gasped internally at what I was seeing. Somehow, Natsu had caught the demon by the neck and was actually managing to hold it back at arm's length, which was astounding—as far as I could tell, he was still unconscious.

All the while, thick tears streaked from his shadowed eyes, rolling down his bloodied face and dripping onto the limestone below.

…Writing this chapter scared me. *sigh* ^^;

GASP! Natsu's back! It's been, like, five chapters! OMG! Damn, writing him was refreshing. He isn't exactly having a good time, mind you, but still…man, I missed Natsu more than you know. Whew…

Was the ending of this chapter jarring? If so, then yay! I did my job right. :) If not…that's fine, too. It might've done something else cool.

And I'm seriously considering changing the rating of this story to M, 'cause really—how much longer can I get away with this kind of stuff in a T-rated story? Or am I just paranoid? What do you guys think?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that. 'Bye for real this time; I'll be back in a week! Hopefully! Thanks for reading, reviewing, and following this story for so long!