I AM BACK, GUYS. REJOICE.

…Kidding. XD Anyway, these chapters are gonna be split more evenly now. 'Cause you need to get used to Natsu again, and I need to get used to Natsu again. Lots of POV switching ahoy!

To treeofsakuras: Thank you. :) The details of what Natsu saw will be explained. No worries. Hope you enjoy this one!

To Justice Tokidoki: Confusing, eh? I still don't know if I should be happy about that or not. XD Well, if you enjoyed it, that's what matters.

Ch. 17: At A Crossroads

Lucy

My body loosened, and my lips finally unglued—which was good, because my jaw had wanted to do nothing else but hang open in astonishment.

I wasn't sure I fully understood what was going on, and judging from the looks of it, the demon was surprised at this outcome also. A whole three seconds had passed before it pried itself from Natsu's grip and stumbled backward. The force that had been holding Natsu against the wall seemed to have disappeared, because he suddenly fell forward. I was still weak in the knees from the paralysis, so I couldn't get to my feet to catch him in time—he landed face-down onto the cavern floor.

"What in the world…?" it muttered, staring at Natsu's motionless form in bewilderment. "That was unexpected…"

"Natsu!" I scrambled to my feet awkwardly and ran to him. I was still somewhat unbalanced, so I tripped and fell against him when I reached him. Undaunted, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and flipped him over on his back, and saw that he was in fact conscious…or at the very least, awake. His eyes were half-open, but they were glazed and blank—and tears kept trickling from his eyes and down his cheeks, which was odd…I couldn't really think of a valid reason for him to be crying, unless this was still the other Natsu.

"What is this…" I murmured to myself, lifting him so his head rested on my lap, half-hoping that he would hear me. "Natsu…why are you crying?"

Natsu

I wasn't sure if I was still dreaming anymore.

Or at the least, maybe I was hoping somewhere that I wasn't—because I was back in a very familiar place. A place I hadn't been in for years until I'd been forced to run away from it.

"This forest," I said to myself in disbelief. "There's no way I'm actually here…right?"

I say that, but everything here was exactly how I remembered it. Every tree, every grove, every flower and bush and blade of grass was in the exact same condition as it had been that day…it was even the same time of day—early evening.

That in itself was what told me that something wasn't right. A forest didn't stay stagnant. It would expand and grow, die and reincarnate, over and over. This forest shouldn't have stayed this way after so many years.

"Hey."

I started, whirling around in the direction of the voice that came out of nowhere. I turned in a circle before my gaze caught a hooded figure in the clearing, sitting cross-legged next to a makeshift campfire that had already burnt itself out. The dying embers glowed brightly in the light of the waning sun. Seeing him there made me wary because as far as I knew, no humans had ever managed to find this place.

So naturally, I decided to stay put. "Who—?" I began to ask, but the figure stopped me with a raised hand.

"If you need to ask me that," he said, "then it seems that we're running out of time more quickly than I thought."

Hold on a second…didn't I know this voice? "What?"

"Losing a grip on yourself, are you? Funny, I'd think that you'd know yourself better than anyone."

The person then turned around and pulled off the hood—and I just about choked on the breath that I'd just caught when I saw my very own eyes boring into me.

This guy…he was actually—

"Good to finally meet you face-to-face, Natsu," my lookalike said amiably, like this meeting was no big thing.

"Wh-who the hell are you?" I demanded, feeling extremely rattled and confused.

He laughed at my question, like he was in on some private joke that I was missing out on. It felt weird being laughed at by…uh…myself.

…Geez, this was just too unreal.

"What does it look like to you?" he asked simply, indicating the spot next to him. "Anyway, come here and sit down—let's have a little talk, you and I."

I was still in shock as I sat down next to him. It was getting darker, but he just ignored the fireplace as he stared at me critically. That made me feel awkward on top of the initial shock, so I tried to say something to take the edge off of the moment.

"So, uh…" I started to say, catching his attention, "…not to be rude or anything, but…what am I supposed to call you? Do you have a name, or…?"

"A name?" he chuckled with a half-grin that looked weird on my face. "I don't have one, actually. Do you have something in mind that you want to call me?"

"Well, I don't know," I said, flustered. "That's why I even asked—I mean, you're me! Um, aren't you?"

"Hmm…I suppose," he said with a light shrug. "But of course, logically speaking, there can only be one of you, right?"

…Okay, yeah; this guy definitely couldn't be me. Concepts like that always confused me; there's no way I would know anything about this. He must've been…well, some all-powerful something-or-other that decided to look like me, for whatever crazy reason.

"Let me ask you a question, then," he said, bringing me out of my reverie with a piercing gaze. "Do you want to live?"

I froze. What?

"Did I stutter?" he asked me plainly, shocking me yet again—could this guy read my mind?!

"Um, I—I just—I mean, I don't—just—who asks someone something like that?!" I finally managed to spit out. "I don't even know what the heck is going on right now—and you're asking me if I want to live?! Seriously, what normal person does that?!"

"Well, I'm not normal," was all he would say, looking at me expectantly. "So?"

This guy wasn't making a lick of sense. That was his answer? The whole who-does-that/I-do schtick? Was he for real?

"O-okay, you know what," I said, trying to backtrack, "before I answer that, let me try to get everything straight. Can you at least let me do that?"

He waved at me to go on. "If that makes you feel better."

I felt a tic go in my forehead. This guy… "Um, right. So, I get that you don't have a name. Then who—or what—are you?"

He rested his chin in his hand at that question. Weirdly, he didn't seem offended. "Would you believe me if I told you?"

"After all that, I've got the urge to take your word with a grain of salt."

"Fair enough." He gestured to himself. "I'm your Life."

I blinked. Then I replied with the extremely clever, "…Huh?"

"To put it simply," he elaborated, lowering his hand and sighing, "I'm the only reason you're still alive right now. Is that clear enough?"

Well, that could probably explain why this dude looked exactly like me. But why the heck was I here talking to him in the first place? "You…are?" I asked blankly. "For real?"

He nodded. "For real. Then again, I won't force you to believe me."

"…Wait a second. You said that you're the reason I'm still alive. What does that mean? Was I supposed to die at some point or something?"

"In a way."

"In a—look, quit being so mysterious! I hate it when people talk like that!"

"I'm not being mysterious. You really were supposed to die in a way. You just didn't because I'm here."

I exhaled irritably. "Okay, fine; I'll bite. In what way was I supposed to die, exactly?"

He tapped his finger on his thigh. "To start, you remember how this…demon stole your body, yes?"

I scoffed. "Well, yeah. It'd be a crime if I forgot."

"Oh, good. Then I suppose you haven't forgotten that it stole your soul as well?"

Whoa, backtrack for a second there. I sure as hell didn't remember that. The demon stole my what now?

My reaction must've been pretty obvious on my face, because he went on to say, "I don't blame you for not knowing this. You probably weren't even aware of it. Truth be told, I didn't really experience that for myself, either. The fact that it stole your soul the way it did is the reason I'm here at all."

This was just way too much to take in at once. The demon had stolen my body, yeah…but it had stolen my soul, too? How the hell did that work? Why did it take my soul in the first place? And if it really did steal my soul, why was I aware like this? The soul was my awareness…wasn't it?

Argh, my head hurt…

"I know this must be confusing to you," he said, pulling me out of my fruitless thoughts, "so I'll do my best to explain to you later. But for now, if you want to live, you should be made aware of the circumstances behind the memories you have just experienced."

Memories…? "Wait, so was all that—?!"

"Don't worry; they're not yours. They're the demon's."

"Th-the demon's?" I was confused again. "But—wait, if that's true and they really aren't mine, then why in the heck was I seeing those memories in the first place?"

"It may have lowered its defenses it was attempting to take me out your body, and it just so happened that you saw a fraction of its memories. Memories of how it came to be in its current state."

There were too many things weighing in that statement that I couldn't understand. I ventured, "So, were those memories, like, part of how it was created, or…?"

"It isn't a created being." To my surprise, his expression turned melancholy. "It has always existed…here in this world, from its very beginning. Just as I have."

"…W-wait, you're not making any sense," I said, desperate to keep from getting lost. "What are you talking about?"

"This demon you speak of," he said, raising his head to look at me solemnly, "is not a true demon. It is Death itself, turned bitter by the scorn of mankind."

It took me a minute to register what he'd just said.

This demon…was actually Death? It had been lying about what it really was this whole time? Why?

And then the enormity of this entire scenario just hit me like one of Gramps' punches—Death itself had possessed me this entire time?! No—it was still possessing me?! Something like that was going around stealing bodies and killing innocent people?! Hearing that just made me angrier.

"So you're telling me," I said slowly, my rage building, "that Death was the one going around murdering people?! Seriously?! What; were there too many vacancies in the world beyond or something?"

"Calm yourself down and listen to what I have to say," he said firmly.

Okay, here's the thing. It's weird enough being glared at by yourself, but it's a whole other story when you realize that—once you see your angry self—how freakin' scary you look to other people. It was enough to make me shut up and stay seated where I was, because otherwise I would've leapt to my feet and throttled Life to give me some sane explanation to justify even half of what everybody had to suffer through over the past week.

Still, I had to work to keep my hands where they were. I clamped them into fists to hold myself down as I glared at him. "Fine," I said shortly. "Talk. And you'd better hope that I like your explanation."

"Like it or not," he said, "it's still the truth."

"No one said that I have to like the truth," I countered.

"Of course," he relented calmly. "But that doesn't mean you should refute it, either."

I…had no rebuttal for that. I crossed my arms and dropped my gaze so that I wouldn't have to look at his accusatory stare.

"Just hurry up and explain already," was all I could say.

I heard him laughing again—this time in amusement.

"Yes, right away," he said, laughter plain in his voice. "All right, those memories. They were from over four hundred years ago. Before then, Death and I were much the same. We both played our parts in the universe, and all was as it should be. Compared to Death's eternal embrace, my hold on a being is short and tenuous. All living things fear Death, which is understandable—I am all that they know. To them, anything unfamiliar is something to be feared. While Death is not unfamiliar to those who live, per se, they—for the most part—do not understand that Death itself is not evil. Life—or I, rather—actively wear on the living, and Death is the one who gives them rest and respite from the trials I give them.

"I'm sure you've heard people say that they're tired of life, or that life is miserable, and so on. Life is difficult to maintain—that's why the act of living is seen as a sign of strength. Some just choose to give up, and take their own life to be with Death forever so that they no longer need to worry about the issues that come with living. Those beings understand Death, but regrettably so…and they are few and far between.

"Still, most humans cling to me. This world I am allowing them to experience—that is all that they know…or rather, is all that they are capable of knowing. That's why so many living beings believe that there is nothing beyond, and that misery must be better than the nothingness they expect comes with eternal rest. That is why so many try to latch onto me however they can—even if it means cheating Death."

Suddenly, that last memory I'd seen was all-too clear—what that Leia girl had said…no, that hadn't been her. She had to have died at some point, and her parents must've tried to bring her back. What Death had said once it had taken hold of her…it was because it had been spurned one time too many.

"So…that's why…?" I whispered in disbelief.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Death was used to being feared, and it had tolerated the humans trying to deny it its duty for countless ages. However, that family you saw had been witness to many painful deaths. That is why they—in a desperate bid to salvage what they lost—tried to cheat it."

A wave of cold washed down my back—which was something that I should not have felt—at those words.

"So that's what it was?" I asked urgently. "That family tried to bring that girl back to life, and then Death—"

"—possessed her body and slaughtered her family in vengeance," he finished for me. "Much like me, Death is not meant to have an identity. However, when that family tried to turn their backs on the laws of nature, Death also managed to defy that nature. And once it gained sentience, it grew capable of harboring the negativity of humans to heart, and it grew capable of acting on it. Thanks to the bitterness it had to suffer throughout all its existence, it took its misery out upon the world."

If anything, that explanation only made me feel even more upset. "But—but that's just it being selfish!" I argued vehemently.

Life paused at my exclamation. I could see his quizzical stare even in the darkness, thanks to the glowing embers of the still-dying campfire. "Selfish?" he repeated curiously. "What makes you say that?"

"Well—" Honestly, I wasn't sure how to put it into words without it sounding ridiculous. But I'd humiliated myself a bunch already, so it probably wouldn't make a difference if I added one more to that counter. "—I mean, I get that Death got mad because people don't appreciate what it actually does. And I totally understand that—anybody would want to be appreciated for what they do for others. But seriously; couldn't it have thought of—of a better way to express its feelings other than…you know, possessing people and snatching their souls in order to commit mass murder? 'Cause constant death isn't gonna make people appreciate it more! Besides, the people it decides to kill might be ones who actually understand it! It's just acting on a completely biased view! What it's doing is totally pointless!"

He was silent in the wake of my rant. He stared at me for a long time, with an expression I couldn't read. It got to the point that I got fidgety.

"What?" I finally asked defensively. "It's just what I think!"

He still didn't say anything at first. Then he sighed and said, "And what you think is mostly correct—in the sense that it won't achieve anything fruitful. I won't do or say anything to defend Death—that's not my job. Think on this, however—Death as it is now is just as much a human as you or I am. Humans are…not the most virtuous creatures, if I may speak on behalf of the entire race—but they are stubborn and resilient, and hardly seem to learn from their mistakes. Death is the same. It is only bringing more of the same misery upon itself by doing this, but it just doesn't know any better."

At first, I wanted to tear Life a new one for talking down on the human race like that, but I quickly thought better of it when I realized that he probably knew exactly what he was talking about…because he was Life.

But I still wanted to say something, so I retaliated with a dubious, "You seriously can't expect that to make me sympathize with Death."

"I don't. But I expect you to understand that it still has human reasoning for doing what it is doing—because humans are the reason why the physical manifestations of Life and Death came to be. Humans brought Death to the world through Leia, and Death brought me to the world through you…and you and Leia are both human."

He then clasped my shoulders with both hands, surprising me with the strength with which he was holding them and the firm stare he delivered with it.

"I'm not asking you to sympathize with Death," he said steadily. "All you should do is understand it, and take what I told you to heart. Can you manage that, Natsu?"

I took one look at his expression and realized that I was in no position to argue. I just nodded wordlessly and prayed to any and all gods that existed that he let my shoulders go. I was starting to lose feeling there.

On cue, he released my shoulders, and I immediately moved to bring the feeling back by rubbing my shoulders one at a time.

"Um…alright, let me ask you one more thing," I grunted as I rolled my shoulders to stimulate the muscles. "Is that okay?"

"If what you just asked wasn't what you wanted to ask," he said, his expression completely serious, "then by all means."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Yeah, okay." I turned my gaze back to the glowing embers of the fireplace, and half-wondered why it hadn't died yet. "Well, I just want to know what's been going on since—since Death stole my soul." Man, that was a weird sentence to say out loud. "You were around for it, right? Can you tell me what's been happening? I don't remember anything that happened after I burned down Shirotsume."

When I raised my head to look at him, he was staring at me in what I took to be pity—though I didn't really get why it was looking at me like that. "What?" I asked.

He closed his eyes as he turned back to the smoldering pile of wood in front of us. "Well," he began, "I don't know how to put this in a way that will make it easy for you to accept." He opened his eyes as he went on, "Death ripped your soul into two in an attempt to create a brand new body for itself, thereby leaving yours behind. He took the more important half—the half with all the memories and magic energy, and most of your will. The other half, the remaining will and the entirety of its life force—in simpler terms, me—it left in your body. Under normal circumstances, you would have been rendered vegetative, and your body would have eventually wasted away and perished, with no will to sustain it. However…"

Not even I needed to hear the rest. "…You're the other half that got left behind," I finally guessed. "You—you're the reason that my body's still alive."

He just smiled at my words, which told me all that I needed to know. It felt extremely uncomfortable now that I knew for sure what this guy actually was doing. It felt even weirder knowing exactly what had happened—no wonder I'd felt strange and empty inside ever since my memories had gone blank; a part of me was with him!

"Uh…thanks," I said awkwardly.

He just shook his head. "Don't thank me," he said flatly. "I've got my own reasons for keeping you alive at the moment." He looked at me in earnest. "Now, you have the choice to make a choice, Natsu."

I started and looked at him in confusion. "…Uh, the choice to what now?"

He just grinned at me knowingly and gestured to the fireplace. "Look there."

I did, and I saw that the embers were glowing just as brightly as it had since the very beginning of this encounter.

"What's with this pile of firewood?" I asked, confused. "The embers aren't going out."

"For now, they're not," he said. "Not until you decide whether or not to rekindle it."

"Me?" I repeated in surprise. "Why me?"

He chuckled again. "Well, you are a fire wizard, aren't you?" he asked in confirmation.

"Y-yeah, but…that doesn't really answer my question," I said.

"Right, of course." He stood and looked down at the glowing wood. "This smoldering fireplace is indicative of the state you and I are in in the real world. Well, more specifically, you and your body. In other words…you won't last long unless you rekindle the fire."

My heart stopped for a split second as I leapt to my own feet at that news. "Seriously?" I gasped, staring at the wood myself. "So I—I'm pretty much on the verge of dying right now?"

For the first time this entire conversation, Life visibly hesitated. He didn't want to tell me the truth this time—and that scared me almost as much as the prospect of me dying.

"Okay, you're scaring me," I said nervously. "Hurry and spit it out already."

"Well…not exactly," he finally admitted with a huge sigh. "Your body is the one truly in danger of death…and once it does, your soul—you, as you are at this moment—will be trapped, forever as the core for Death's newly constructed body. You'll lose your free will and consciousness for as long as it roams free. You'll be…in a state worse than death itself."

My stomach dropped to the soles of my feet. "No way," I said in denial. "There's no way something like that can happen. That's just too horrible!"

"It can and it will," he said harshly, his abrupt change in attitude startling me, "unless you decide to choose. For one, you can choose to save yourself. If you do that, I can enable you to return to your body—but only for a short amount of time, during which you can take back the rest of your soul that Death stole from you and deal the final blow…or not." He turned his body in full to face me with a piercing gaze. "Remember that in order for you to get rid of Death from yourself, you will have to take it back into your body as well. Your friend is with your body at this moment, and she can help you put Death back where it belongs once you do so. But"—he jabbed a finger into my chest—"doing this means that you run the risk of perishing in the process. There's no guarantee that you'll live through this, but if you do—you will have to shoulder the burden Death has brought upon you with its deeds." He lowered his arm. "Alternatively, you can also choose to remain here, since Death has promised her to leave her and everyone else in peace should she cooperate with it. If you decide to stay your hand and take no action, you can spare your friends even more suffering by taking it all on yourself, and let Death roam free without any unnecessary harm coming to anyone. In that case, I will simply need to find another way to return Death to its proper place." He was still glaring at me so fiercely that it felt like his gaze was piercing me. "So, what will you choose?"

My heartbeat went into overtime as I stared warily at the glowing pile of wood. I could tell that Life was asking way more of me here than just choosing to live or die—he was asking me if I was willing to face the consequences of my actions or just run away from them. Whether I survived this ordeal or not, my friends in Fairy Tail would suffer for everything that Death did while it had hijacked my body.

So it was just as much of a fight-or-flight situation as it was a pick-your-poison one. And judging from the way it had acted as it had explained all this to me, the decision I made in the end would make no difference to him. He'd basically called himself an unfeeling and cruel prick earlier while explaining Death's motives without flinching, after all.

All he'd done was give me the information—now he wanted to see if I was going to take advantage of any of it.

I thought about everything that had happened—the lies that I'd told, the people that I'd been forced to kill, and the friends and family that I had hurt in the process. I thought about what would happen to me and Fairy Tail if I managed to survive. I thought about all the people who were hurting now since I'd taken their loved ones away from them. I thought about how horribly they would treat my friends just for being associated with me even if I didn't make it through this. I thought about how much that would hurt me if I was there with them and took the brunt of the hate. I thought about how well I could stand my guild being despised all throughout the kingdom of Fiore while they were struggling to keep themselves together.

Then I thought about Lucy, who I'd strong-armed into promising me to get rid of this demon no matter what—which had actually turned out to be Death. I thought about how much pain that keeping that promise would put her through if I didn't go back.

Eventually, I looked back to Life, who was still standing there, waiting to see if I would make a decision.

"Everything that you said before," I said, "is all the truth, right?"

He just nodded once, without a word.

"Okay, then." I then turned to the smoldering wood, with every intention of reducing it into a pile of ashes.

Lucy

He didn't respond to my words, which made my spirits plummet. So he really was just unconscious.

But then…why did he move just now? How did he, if he really had been unconscious this whole time, manage to push the demon away from him in a chokehold like that? Had it just been instinct?

Then again, I had no way to explain away the tears if I accepted that theory. That had honestly confused me more than the sudden movement.

"This makes no sense," the demon growled from behind me, making my heart skip a beat. "Is that fool trying to pull a trick on me? Me?"

Against my own will, I turned my head to look behind me—and I saw that the demon appeared outright murderous. It glared at Natsu with extreme loathing—it had outright lost its temper.

"How pitiful can you get," it hissed so venomously that I instinctively shielded him from its wake as it advanced on us. "Clinging onto whatever remains of you…that's only hurting yourself where it hurts the most!"

"No," I said, holding Natsu close to me protectively, "stay back! Don't even think about hurting him! You'll be sorry!"

"QUIET!" it roared, letting its fist fly straight in the direction of my face.

I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I had no time to deflect or dodge it—it was coming at me too quickly. I just shut my eyes and prayed that it wouldn't make Natsu suffer collateral damage.

But the impact I'd expected never came.

It was a moment before I dared to open my eyes to see what had happened—and the sight I beheld was something I couldn't believe at first.

Natsu's hand had shot out through the gap beneath my arms and blocked the punch before it could reach me.

It—it happened again! I thought in shock. He moved again!

The demon looked just as shocked as I felt.

"What…what is this?" it protested, sounding increasingly frustrated. "You—how? How are you even here?!"

My heart skipped a beat, hardly daring to believe it. Could it mean…?!

I pulled away from Natsu, and I saw that he was awake—and conscious this time. He was pale, clammy, and unsettlingly cold—but he was conscious, glaring venomous daggers at the demon and refusing to let go of its fist.

"You've hurt my friends for the last time, Death," he growled, "and it's about time somebody beat some sense into you." He got to his feet, ignoring me at first. "And I'll be providing that service, plus interest"—Natsu then forcibly pulled the demon in and sucker punched it right in the gut, sending it flying backward into a huge column of rock and making the pillar crumble—"for daring to try and lay another filthy hand on Lucy!"

I was surprised at what Natsu had just said. Did he just call the demon…Death? I wondered to myself.

But my thoughts didn't linger on his words for long. While the shocked expression didn't leave the demon's face, I felt mine slip into overwhelming relief to the point that a painful lump formed in my throat as I tried to hold back the sobs. Even so, I couldn't stop the tears from flowing in my unfiltered joy.

"Natsu…!" I gasped with an ungracious-sounding hiccup, probably looking completely undignified.

It was the real Natsu. It had to be. There was no mistaking that attitude or that expression, and Life hadn't ever referred to me by name in that manner. This was the Natsu that I knew—the one that I'd promised that I'd save.

I wasn't sure how he'd come back then, but at the time, I couldn't care less. Seeing Natsu standing in front of me as himself at that moment, after everything he'd been forced to suffer through, was just too much of a blessing.

Natsu finally turned to face me. "Hey there, Lucy," he greeted me easily. He flashed his trademark smile like it was just another typical day. "Thanks a million for the save. Do me a favor and pin down that bastard so I can beat that ugly face in, yeah?"

I smiled back at his banter, rising to my feet and wiping away my tears. "You can consider it done!"

I didn't realize this at the time. I'd been too caught up in the moment.

But years would pass before I managed to smile again.

Whee. Forest air is a surprisingly good source for musing, you guys. :) I haven't written so much in such a short span of time since my first crossover story. Sure, it's kinda short, but short is also good. Don't know if it worked well as a recap/cleanup chapter, though, but that's for you guys to decide, right? I shouldn't worry about that too much right now.

Well, guys; we're reaching the climax! Everybody's survival is at stake! Death is on the ropes now, and our Natsu's (sort of) back to kick some Death!Natsu ass! Who's gonna survive this? Who'll make the ultimate sacrifice? What will come of this battle?

Tune in next chapter to find out the answer to some of these speculations! See you guys then!