I AM BACK.

…

AGAIN. Yeah, sorry about that, you guys. I had lots of side stuff come up (plus life), so I couldn't really find time to work on this one. But I have three (one and a half now) weeks of break ahead of me, so expect to see at least one more update for this during that time…hopefully.

Also, WARNING: Lots of speeches ahead.

To treeofsakuras: Yes, all that's left is to wait and see…for now.

To f . tastarossa: Heh, thank you. I'm glad to be back, too. :)

To Justice Tokidoki: Yeah, can't really avoid clichés in writing. There's a reason they're called "clichés", you know? I'm glad you liked the conversation between the two Natsus; that was really fun for me to write. And you know, the more I write Life!Natsu, the less I want him to go away. It's a dilemma. ^^; Also, of course not everybody thinks of Death that way (which I'll get into detail for this chapter). Death just feels like it was slighted one time too many, which culminates after that resurrection attempt actually gave it an identity and consciousness. And I do get that this whole story is happening because of coincidence…but all stories are results of a conglomeration of coincidence and convenience. That's why stories are stories; it's not like this one is exempt from that rule. *shrug* And you might be getting these awkward feelings since…you know, you didn't completely catch up on the manga (yet) and therefore aren't familiar with the full brunt of the Cerberus Syndrome that the story is going through (the most recent chapter made my heart ache so badly), but hey. I can't really judge you for that. All in all, though, glad you liked the last one. :) I hope this chapter tides you over as well!

To NatsuL0ver: Haha, I'm really glad that you like the concepts I implemented into this story. :) I'm also happy to hear that you will be supporting this story to the end, because it's readers like you that carry me through stories like this. And thanks for that compliment; it means a lot. Hope you like this one!

Ch. 18: His Heart Bared

Lucy

Natsu gave neither me nor the demon a chance to react.

"This"—he practically flew over to where the demon had landed and axe-kicked his face into the limestone floor to the point of creating a crater—"is for ripping my soul in half, and this"—he stomped its face into the floor for good measure—"is for messing with my friends, and"—he grabbed it off the ground and threw it against the opposite wall, ping-ponging it back and forth—"destroying the guild hall, you stupid—selfish—BASTARD!"

I couldn't help but stand there and stare in awe. How was he able to exert himself like that even though he was effectively, for all intents and purposes, a moving corpse? It was ridiculous.

Unfortunately, Natsu's rail on the demon didn't last long. It eventually regained its bearings and managed to force him back far enough away in order to get a grip on itself. It wasn't injured at all, even in the wake of the pounding it'd just received from Natsu, but it was breathless from the exertion. It looked downright humiliated (served it right, though) and just as angry as it had been before Natsu had given it a surprise hello.

"What…did you just call me?" it growled threateningly, its words rough and furious.

"…Oh, wow; Life was right," Natsu remarked, breathing heavily even with a confident smirk on his face, "you really are touchy about the whole being-called-Death thing. Didn't think something as timeless as you would be so immature about that."

Never before had this many questions reigned in my mind. Wait, so Natsu had talked with Life? When? How? What did they talk about? And why did he keep calling the demon Death?

"What?" it asked in incredulity. "You can't mean—!"

"Dude, you are hopeless. Shouldn't Death be paying more attention to this kind of stuff?" Natsu smirked superiorly. "Yeah, he told me everything, even more of the lies you fed us—like how you kept calling yourself a monster and a demon. That was probably the biggest one." He crossed his arms almost chidingly. "What a nasty thing to do; you really had me going there. But, you know what they say"—he rushed it and elbowed it in the stomach, knocking it back several feet—"life holds all the answers, or something like that!"

I was utterly mystified now—to the point that I couldn't keep quiet about it anymore.

"Natsu, what are you talking about?" I asked in a desperate bid to get brought up to speed. "You talked with Life? And he told you that—?"

"Yeah, he did," he grunted, wiping some errant blood off of his chin. "Honestly, it was really weird. Felt like Edolas all over again—except this time, I was the wimpy one getting schooled." He rolled his eyes, keeping an eye on his adversary as he did so. "He was such a smartass, though. I didn't think Life would be that egotistical."

I couldn't hold back the giggle that followed that remark, as out of place as it was. Must've been the overwhelming relief that still hadn't quite worn off yet. "Well, what did you expect? He does take after you, you know."

Even from where I was standing, I could see a tic going in his forehead. "Yeah, real nice of you to say that, Lucy. Makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside; you have no idea."

"I do my best." I tried to get my emotions back in control and focus on the situation at hand. "So about this demon…it's not really a demon? You keep calling it Death."

"Pretty much, yeah," he grumbled. "That idiot whimpering on the ground there is actually Death just pretending to be a demon. Man, looking at the guy after hearing all that from Life makes me want to beat that bastard into the ground even more."

Well…that was an eye-opener. Never would've expected that from the way it had been acting this whole time…then again, Life had called it a demon, too, right in front of our faces. Getting confirmation for my suspicions of him lying to us wasn't really a reassuring reveal.

"But…what did Life tell you, exactly?" I asked uneasily. "I'm starting to think that he lied about a lot more things than Death."

At that question, Natsu made a face. "Tch, heck if I know…most of it was really complicated. Some girl died four hundred years ago, her parents tried to bring her back to life, Death got pissed at them for trying, yadda yadda. It was basically throwing a huge temper tantrum because for the most part, people don't like Death…or something like that."

"Th…that's…!" Words couldn't describe how furious I was at learning the truth. So many innocent people suffered and died…because this existential entity didn't feel loved enough?! What kind of a reason was that to kill anybody?!

"That's ENOUGH!" The demon (no, I should start calling it Death now) lunged forward and kneed Natsu right in the gut right down to the ground, making him gag. It happened so fast that I didn't even have time to react before Natsu managed (with some difficulty) to kick it off of him.

"Geez…as much as this idiot screams immature, he's stinkin' powerful," Natsu groaned as he got to his feet with difficulty, wheezing. He shot a quick glance my way with patronizing eyes before refocusing his attention on Death, who was already back on its feet. "Hey, Lucy? Some help would be nice right about now. Bust out your whip and put the brakes on this freak!"

Normally I would've been on his case for acting condescending toward me like this (especially since it wasn't like him at all), but this really wasn't the place or time.

"You know, Natsu," I griped as I grabbed my whip off of my belt and extended it, "it wouldn't exactly kill you to ask nicely!"

"You really wanna test that?" he asked as I lashed my whip out at the enemy. "I don't know if that's in your best interest."

"Oh, shut it already!" The extended whip wrapped itself around Death's body and locked in place, stopping it in its tracks. "Just do something before I lose my grip!"

Catching Death with my whip was easy enough—it was keeping it there that would prove to be a problem. I'd had first-hand experience with its physical strength, after all—I knew I couldn't keep it in place forever.

"You wench!" Death growled, glowering at me furiously and struggling against its bonds. "Release me now!"

"Not on your life!" I put more strength into my whip as I said this. I was not going to let it go.

To my confusion (and anxiety, since the whip was just barely keeping it contained), Natsu didn't seem to be in any hurry. "Oh, quit complaining, you baby," he said irritably, cracking his knuckles. "I'm just letting off some steam before I get to doing what I need to do. So shut your yap."

I stared at him incredulously as he said this. "W-wait a second—Natsu, you mean you know—?!"

"Well, duh; of course I do. Did you forget that I had a special heart-to-heart with Life?" He exhaled slowly as he stepped toward Death. "He told me pretty much everything that's been going on since Shirotsume, and what I need to do to put Death in its place. I know I can't do this forever—and this idiot won't be kissing dirt as long as it's got that body." His brow furrowed in confliction, keeping his gaze fixed on Death as he approached it. "And really, I learned some things about Death that I wish I hadn't. I really don't want to keep feeling sorry for this guy."

He…what? "You…you're not making any sense, Natsu." I strained against the inhuman strength Death was putting into trying to free itself. "What are you talking about? What do you mean; you feel sorry for it?"

He just ignored me as he reached Death, and he paused. He didn't hit it or anything; he just stood there and glared at it.

Death didn't seem to appreciate that.

"What do you think you're looking at?" it growled, glowering right back. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Natsu didn't do or say anything back in retaliation—he just kept standing there in silent fury, which really wasn't like him. Then he exhaled sharply and went on to say in a low voice, "You really wanna know, Mister Death? Truth is, I actually feel pretty sorry for you."

My heart skipped a beat—what did he think he was doing?!

"You have the nerve to pity me?!" it yelled defiantly, struggling with the whip binding it again in its rage, forcing me to redouble my efforts at restraining it.

Natsu snapped his hand out and snatched its collar before it could fight any further, pulling it towards him so that they were practically nose-to-nose.

"I can do whatever the hell I feel like," he hissed, his anger muted yet somehow overwhelming, "so shut up like the timeless being that you are is supposed to and listen to what I have to say."

Right at that moment, something that shouldn't have possibly happened did happen—Death immediately acquiesced and shut up. It looked absolutely shocked at Natsu's sudden change in demeanor—probably just as much as I felt. I knew for sure that this was the real Natsu, but…this behavior was so unlike him that it disturbed me. I couldn't even remember the last time he'd glared at someone with such cold eyes. It both piqued and dampened my desire to know what exactly he'd been forced to see to get this way. I just couldn't find the words to ask him about it.

Death seemed to be at a loss of words itself—but for completely different reasons. It probably hadn't expected to get this intimidated by the person whose body and soul it had messed with so easily and relentlessly. Also, Natsu hadn't released his hold on it in any sense of the word. Both his firm grip and his furious gaze held it in place.

"I'll be perfectly honest with you; I have no clue where I should start," he said, his words inflectionless, "but Life gave me a pretty good rundown. And you know what he told me?" He started to inject a bit more emotion into his words. "He told me how you got like this in the first place. He told me how you got sick of being feared and rejected, about how you wanted our appreciation so badly that the minute you came into this world, you started murdering the lot of us. And even an idiot like me…" I saw his grip tighten on its collar. "…even an idiot like me figured out that you've been doing that for the past four hundred years! It might not seem like it to you, but for us humans, that's a really long time! And during that entire time, nothing's changed!" The volume of his voice went up with each syllable. "Four hundred years of pointless killing! Four hundred years of misery, tears, and blood that never had to happen! You did all that in order to get people to stop being afraid of you! And where the hell did that get you?" I could feel my own heart throbbing at the sight of Natsu railing on like this. "Everything about you just screams it—you're still just as miserable as you were four hundred years ago! Can't you see how backwards this is?! How the hell is slaughtering millions of people going to get us to appreciate you in any way?! Don't you realize that all you're doing is making people fear and hate you even more?! Are you really that blind?!" He grabbed its collar with both hands now and pulled it so close to himself that my whip threatened to snap from the added pressure.

But I almost didn't notice it in the wake of Natsu's passionate rant. I had no idea where all these words were coming from, but he'd definitely seen and heard something from Life that was making him act like this—something that I knew I couldn't begin to understand. This was something that was beyond my reach. It hurt to admit it…but Natsu had reached a level of understanding that I couldn't fathom.

"How can you be this stupid?" he continued, breathless. "Why can't you be more mature about this whole thing, huh? Why can't you for once think about why so many people are afraid of dying in the first place?!" Tears of frustration trickled down his bloodied cheeks. "Every time you went and blew up a city with my magic, you would always say the exact same things—"humans are weak…ignorant…fragile…and easy to kill". I can't even begin to tell you how sick I got of hearing you say that on top of being forced to watch you murder innocent people while wearing my appearance like some cheap costume!" His voice cracked at the last word, and his stance crumpled slightly, like he'd inadvertently brought up a painful memory in the fervor of emotion, but he managed to compose himself. "Even you have your own beliefs. Ever since you started to physically exist, you had your own code that you followed, and I'm guessing that that's one of them. You think humans are weak, stupid, and expendable. I won't waste my time trying to make you believe the opposite…but still—" He shot another venomous glare at it at those words. "—you should at least have the decency to listen to yourself when saying those things—because those same beliefs of yours are exactly why people are scared of you to begin with! We are weak! We don't know any better! We're so fragile that you pick us off by the millions by the day without even trying!" His grip on Death's collar was so rough by this point that it was on the verge of tearing from the tension. "We're human! And you hate us because we're not perfect—for something that we just can't help but be! You can hate us all you want; I don't care! But you should at least have a good reason for it and find some other solution other than murdering innocent people!"

Here Natsu finally paused in his relentless tirade in an attempt to catch his breath. He'd put so much exertion in his words that he was even more physically exhausted than before; I could see sweat glistening on his skin, and it looked like it was all he could do to stay standing—until he proceeded to slug it in the face so hard that I had to retract my whip to keep it from snapping as the hit slammed Death onto the limestone floor hard.

"And if those words…aren't enough to make you see some sense," he finally wheezed, "then I'll just have to beat it into you until the very end—of the both of us!"

My chest tightened painfully at his words. "Natsu, you can't—!"

He raised a hand to stop me before I could finish.

"You can lecture me later, Lucy," he said, sighing in fatigue. "Let's put the kibosh on Death before you start railing on me, alright? I already got an earful from Life; I really don't want to deal with another one right now."

"But then you'll…!"

"Seriously, just cut out the kindness crap already!" he snapped furiously, making me flinch back in fear. "Now's not the time for that, Lucy! Are you going to help me stop Death for good or not?!"

My entire body trembled in fear. I didn't know what to do other than cry out of sheer despair, but I couldn't do that. This was wrong. This was all wrong. This was not how things were supposed to be; Natsu wasn't supposed to yell at me like that at times like this!

"…Well, isn't that cute."

The both of us started at the sound of Death's unexpectedly smug-sounding voice and whirled in its direction—it was still sprawled on the ground from when Natsu had knocked him down, but it still had the confidence to start talking back.

"Having a spat with your girlfriend in the midst of a battle…that's very much like you, dear Natsu," it went on, slowly pushing itself upright into a sitting position. "Your ignorance in particular is rather unbelievable."

It was Natsu's turn to back off warily as Death managed to get to its feet. "The heck're you going on about?"

"Well…I'll freely admit," it confessed without so much as a hint of hesitation, "that outburst of yours did surprise me. And I'll ask you my first question in return." It raised an eyebrow, shooting Natsu a superior look. "What exactly was your aim in telling me all that? Were you genuinely lecturing me, or was it to get rid of all the pent-up anger inside you? Or was it both?" It chuckled once in amusement. "It doesn't seem to have worked on either account, don't you agree?"

Natsu, to my surprise, looked like he'd expected as much. "Well, yeah; obviously," he said tersely. "It'll take a whole lot more than that to get rid of any of my anger, and I already knew from the start that lecturing you wasn't gonna work by any stretch. I just thought I'd give it a shot, anyway."

"Oh, my; isn't that kind of you," Death said with a mockingly touched smile. "I'm flattered to think that you'd actually even give me a chance at redemption, Natsu Dragneel—especially after everything that has happened. It'll make it that much sweeter once I get rid of you."

"Yeah; fat chance," Natsu challenged angrily. "Like I'll let that happen—especially after Life went through the trouble of kicking the rest of my consciousness back into my body in order to put you in your place."

I did a double take at Natsu's words. Life had done what?

He even managed to catch Death off-guard. "What did you say?"

"You don't listen too well, do you? It's exactly like I said." He fearlessly jabbed a finger right at the enemy. "Life put me back in my body for one reason only—and that's to get rid of you."

Neither Death nor I could believe what he was saying—I was utterly horrified, and Death just looked somewhat bemused.

"Natsu…!" I gasped. He didn't seem to hear me; he was totally focused on Death standing before him, who didn't seem very impressed.

"Well, that's just downright pitiful," it said skeptically. "Your presence here essentially has no purpose, then."

"Oh, real funny." He stepped forward while warning severely, "Snark while you still can—'cause it'll be the last thing you ever do."

"Cute." It slipped into an offensive stance, its entire body igniting in flames. "Well, I suppose it's about time I take out the trash; don't you? I do apologize in advance, but I'm not the absolute neatest at the job."

By the time either of us could so much as voice a retort, Death's arm was already halfway through Natsu's torso.

Natsu

My first thought at the sight of myself running me through was (excuse my language) Shit!

My second? OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!

Good God; that hurt! If I hadn't been me, I would've been dead at this point. Thankfully, I was me…kind of. I couldn't really say that with confidence just yet.

My vision was blurred, there was a roaring in my ears, and my nerves were shot thanks to the shock from the sudden attack, so I couldn't really tell what was going on—I just heard Lucy screaming something at the sight of me being impaled by a flaming forearm. Couldn't really blame her for that; anybody would freak at the same sight.

My senses were jerked back into reality when Death finally pulled—no, not pulled, yanked—its arm out of my gut. I stumbled backward from the momentum, and as the overwhelming pain came back with a vengeance, I couldn't help it—I screamed out loud. I could hardly catch my breath afterwards—Death had punched a gaping hole right through my diaphragm.

Normally, any other person would've been a goner, but luckily for me, I was, well, me…and it hadn't attacked my heart. So I still had a chance—though I was frankly surprised that I was able to stay standing after that.

I didn't have to wonder why it hadn't gone straight for my heart, either. This guy was a real sick bastard; it knew about the healing factor that Life was giving me through this whole fight. Causing me as much pain as possible before death was its source of pleasure.

"Goodness, seems like I missed it the first go-around." Death clicked its tongue in disappointment, its fingers cracking as it bared its hand again. "I suppose I got carried away. Don't worry, though; I won't miss a second time."

"You…son of a…!" I gasped with difficulty as I struggled to stay upright and ignore the pain. My injuries might be healing, but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt like hell.

"You're a hardy one. I'll have to hand you that, being able to stay on your feet after that blow." Its entire body was still enveloped in flames—my flames. By this point I was wondering if Death was doing that just to spite me. "But you won't stay standing for long; trust me on that."

"Natsu!" I heard Lucy shriek in her panic.

"Relax, Lucy…" I coughed once violently, spitting blood onto the limestone in front of me, before I was able to catch my breath again. "I'll be…just fine."

I was majorly worried—not for myself, but for Lucy. If she freaked out this much at the prospect of actually striking at my heart, then this fight wasn't going to end well. She'd completely lost it at the sight of me getting punched through my gut, to start. If she ended up not wanting to go through with it, I'd have to improvise—something I really didn't want to resort to. I mean, there are only so many ways I can handle stabbing myself through the heart after shoving Death and the rest of my soul back into my body, and there was no guarantee that I'd get it on target the first time to begin with, because…well, I wouldn't exactly have free mobility.

"I was going to give you a swift and painless death, dear Dragon Slayer," it said, advancing on me slowly, "but I'll confess that I grew bored. And I do need to pay you back for the beating you gave me earlier."

I could practically feel Lucy bristling at Death's comment. "What are you talking about; you can't even get hurt!" she shouted at it furiously. "Why are you doing this in the first place?! Didn't you even listen to what Natsu was saying to you earlier?!"

Death froze in its tracks at her retort.

"Ohh, yes," it said calmly after a moment of silence. "I listened, alright, princess. Every last word. And really, it is quite frustrating…" It dropped its calm demeanor then, glaring ice-cold daggers at Lucy. "…to see for myself just how presumptuous you humans really are."

I felt my eyes widen in surprise at hearing that. I could tell that Lucy hadn't been expecting that response, either, judging by her next words of, "Wh-what are you talking about?"

Death had clenched its jaw so tightly that I could hear a crack from his teeth breaking under the pressure. "Every word that came out of this ingrate's mouth sickened me," it growled. "Make me out to be a fool, will he? Make me out to be some childish, immature imbecile? That only serves to prove that you humans know nothing!"

"What did you say?!" I snapped.

"I'll repeat myself a dozen times over if I must." Death switched the target of his glower to me—it looked outright pissed off now, but I did my best to avoid quailing under it. "Don't mistake me for a mindless braggart—my reasons are my own, and you have no place equating them to your feeble human ideals!"

"Don't get so high and mighty!" I yelled back. "My biggest problem with you is that you don't even follow your own damn morals!"

"And that's precisely where your mistakes lie." The flames around it blazed even hotter in its anger. "I do not hold my ideals against any other. They stand apart and alone, and none are meant to dictate how I follow them. Especially not by any of you lowly humans!"

"If you want respect so badly, then why don't you start showing some damn maturity?!" My injuries had completely healed over by this point, but I was still a little woozy from the blood loss. I was mostly just grasping at straws here to avoid losing footing. "You know that everything in this world has a role to play. Running away from yours makes you nothing but a coward!"

"That holds little consequence to me!" it snarled. "You won't be living long enough to be a lasting sore spot upon my name! All you humans are hopeless and beyond redemption—so I will erase the lot of you!"

I gritted my teeth in frustration—Death just refused to listen to reason. It was too warped for me to try and convince it to change its mind about anything. Just great…

Natsu.

I started at the sound of that voice. "What—who was…?!"

Stay calm. It's just me.

Wait a second…this voice was inside my head. Y-you?! I thought in shock. But how're you—?

There is no time to explain that. I just need you to allow me to speak with Death.

Whoa, wait a minute. What?! You want to actually talk to that psycho? I asked it incredulously. I ranted at Death for ten minutes straight and it hardly budged an inch! What makes you think that you'll get it to change its mind?

Remember who—or what, rather—you're dealing with here, he said. It will not listen to human reason. I'll speak with Death in your place.

…Look, even if I say yes, I thought uneasily, keeping one eye on Death, how are you gonna do that in the first place? Are you gonna snatch my body again?

There isn't any other way at this juncture, unfortunately.

Uh-huh, okay…enough beating around the bush; what's the catch?

He wasted no time in answering me in what I took to be a no-nonsense tone. If you allow me to speak to Death, it will significantly reduce the time you have left to properly retrieve your body—doing this will take a large amount of your energy; now that the rest of your consciousness has returned to your body, I can't just resume control on my whims. I understand that the repercussions of this decision are high in your case, but I suggest you permit me to do this if you don't want to ultimately fail.

I couldn't really argue against that…then again, the only effective way to win an argument against Life was to kill myself, and…well, that wasn't something that should be on my laundry list, no matter how cocky he was.

…Okay, fine, I relented reluctantly. I'll bite. I really hope you know what you're doing.

Very well, then. Close your eyes once you're ready.

I exhaled sharply. I had a gut feeling that this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience by any stretch. I could already feel the fatigue that would come from this move. Yeesh…

Lucy must've been confused to see me just standing there with this strange expression on my face for I-don't-know-how-many minutes, because she ventured to ask, "Hey, Natsu? Are you okay?"

I turned to look at her once and said, "Yeah, I'm just fine." I turned my attention back to Death, who looked pretty lost itself, as I kept speaking to her. "Don't freak, but I'm gonna have to say 'bye to you for a bit."

"…What? What're you—?"

"Well, the thing is…Life just told me that he wants to talk with this idiot," I explained simply, scratching my head.

Lucy gasped in surprise. "W-wait a minute—he can still talk to you?"

"Yeah. Not sure what he's planning to say to it, exactly, but it really couldn't hurt—I mean, not any more than it already will." It really hurt telling that lie, but I didn't want to stress her out anymore—she needed some semblance of relief after all that she'd had (yet) to go through. "He needs to borrow my body to do that, though, so that's why I'm asking you not to freak. 'Kay?"

To my surprise, for whatever reason, Lucy didn't argue. She still didn't sound too pleased, though. "…Alright," she said reluctantly. "Just…promise me that you'll come back, Natsu. Okay?"

"Yeah, no problem. I don't think that Life's too keen on hijacking me in the first place." I jabbed a finger at Death, who flinched a bit at my sudden movement. "Alright, listen up! Life wants to have a little conversation with you, so be on your best behavior, you got me? Or else you'll have even more hell to pay!"

I lowered my hand and closed my eyes before it could say anything back, and I felt myself being pushed to the back of my mind as Life took charge.

Lucy

I was not happy about this. Aside from the obvious downside of losing Natsu again to some higher entity (sort of), I wasn't really looking forward to meeting Life again. He'd been lying to us this whole time about some pretty important things, so I didn't know if I should trust him or not anymore.

"…I'd hoped to avoid resorting to this…" Natsu's voice…but this wasn't him. His overall tone was radically different—I could tell just by listening that Life was at the controls now, and I bristled at the realization. "…But it appears that my hand has been forced."

Death had an unexpectedly resigned reaction when it realized who was speaking. Its flames died down and disappeared as it said, "So…you've finally shown yourself, old friend."

"Watch your tongue," Life said sharply. "I'm not here to deal with any of your so-called pleasantries."

"Then what did bring you out, pray tell?" it asked flatly. "You're wasting your time if you're here to try and stop me."

"It's not my place to stop anything that occurs in this world," he said. "Under normal circumstances, I would just go on without any regards to your deeds, though this is hardly anything but. Even so, if your senseless rampaging is to be stopped here, it will not be by me."

Death laughed once in amusement. "So you're counting on these humans instead? It's laughable how much faith you put into this miserable race."

Life smirked at that response, which was disturbing on several fronts because he'd never worn that expression before, even if it didn't look all that out of place on Natsu's face. "It seems that you're getting the wrong impression of my intentions," he said. "I don't count on humans to do anything. What they do is what they choose to do. And these humans"—he gestured to me, and Natsu by extension—"chose to try and stop you, for one reason or another. I won't try to dissuade them, because that isn't my purpose, but neither will I aid them."

"Just as steadfast and conforming as always," Death said, sighing irritably. "Small wonder that your hold on living beings is short."

"And your hold is eternal," Life countered calmly, "which gives you little reason to be doing what you are. Moreover, there is an aspect of your duty that you've failed to recognize."

Death didn't look so amused anymore. It was glaring daggers at Life at his implications. "And what would that be?"

"It is not something that I should have to explain to you. I do agree that your duty isn't the most pleasant one at face value, but the benefits are much more rewarding than what you believe." He lifted a hand and started ticking off on his fingers, one by one. "For one thing, I am very easily squandered and wasted, by both sentient and non-sentient beings alike. You, on the other hand, are much more revered. Once my part is done, you take over—and your role is everlasting rest for those I leave. You are an escape that never fails to take away the pain of those who have forsaken me for your embrace, and those in life honor those in death. All the same, none can truly escape you, while escaping me is as simple as a slit of the throat or a dose of poison." He spread out his arms, as if beckoning to Death, who backed up warily. "In short, you are misdirecting your hatred. Though they honor you through others, the living fear you—and that is not the fault of the humans. It is mine. Their opinions of you are rather limited because I can only offer so much. However, the dead are all forever grateful to you for releasing them from their burdens and suffering, which I inevitably bring upon all living beings. This pain you feel—it is pain on behalf of the dead. You take away their pain, release them from it—so that they may be able to rest in peace." He lowered his hands and gazed at Death earnestly. "The true reason you feel this pain is because you take it all upon yourself. And that was never necessary—because it was never a burden for you to bear alone. I am meant to share that pain with you."

Silence roared in my ears long after Life's closing words. So many things made so much more sense to me now—and I felt absolutely horrible for faulting him for what he'd done. Life wasn't upset just because Death had decided to break the laws of nature—he was upset because Death didn't let him mitigate its pain like he was supposed to. Death itself released people from their pain by taking it all for itself, failing to recognize that Life also felt that same pain of losing a loved one to Death. Suffering was meant to be on both fronts—and he didn't like that Death hadn't realized this. I wanted to apologize to him for not understanding this from the beginning, but the words were stuck somewhere in my throat—they wouldn't come out, because half of me knew that he would see it not as an offense, but just a part of his role.

As if to drive that belief home, Life then turned to look at me directly for the first time since he'd returned and started speaking, the soft smile on his face betraying both gratitude and remorse.

"I understand how you feel," he said simply, "but there's no need to apologize."

Those words only served to make me feel even guiltier. "But I…"

"It's alright. It's only natural for you to feel betrayed by my lies." He tilted his head in understanding. "You are human, after all. And of course…" His smile flipped from grateful to (to my surprise) somewhat awkward. "…I never did get to express my gratitude for your actions. You have my thanks."

I really didn't know what to say in response. Life was just too unpredictable in his words and behavior for me to grasp. And how in the world was I supposed to react to the very essence of Life itself thanking me?

He turned away before I could say anything, though, so that spared me the awkwardness of the situation and helped me to get back to the real issue at hand. For the first time since this whole debacle had gotten started, Death looked genuinely uncomfortable at what it had just learned—and I couldn't tell if it was furious, distressed, or a combination of the two—or possibly even neither. It looked so unstable that it made me feel on edge, but Life didn't seem to be bothered by its countenance at all.

"That is all I have come to say to you," he said to his adversary, who was trembling with emotion before him. "Take into consideration what I have just told you, and the inevitable outcome of this battle will become clear."

Death didn't say anything in response for a while—it was still taking in all that it had heard. But it eventually raised its head to shoot venomous glares at its counterpart, fury plain in its expression and angry tears running from its eyes. "Even if all that is true," it said, its words tense yet tenuous, "I've already come this far—so I will see this through to the end. The truth will not sway me!"

Life looked disappointed at its response, but he didn't retaliate. He just turned back to me then, his gaze firm. "I've used up enough of your friend's remaining energy as it is, so this is where I must leave you," he said. "If you intend on stopping Death and saving your friend, make haste, and don't hesitate…you have three hours."

Before I could come up with anything to say, he turned his back to me—and he promptly gasped and staggered. On impulse, I dashed toward him and caught him before he could collapse. I flinched when I noticed how cold he felt.

I tried to focus. "Natsu!" I cried, trying to get him to his feet. "Hey, are you okay? Can you stand?"

"Ugh…" Natsu looked utterly exhausted—even leaning heavily against me, he could barely hold himself up. It was all he could do to stay upright, breathing hard in exertion. "…Y-yeah…I'm fine…just…a little beat…"

Even without Life's warning moments before, I could've figured out just by looking at him that he was way more than "just a little beat". Letting Life take control had definitely taken its toll on his body for one reason or another.

"Well, anyway…you heard him, right?" He finally caught his breath and managed to stand on his own. "We don't have much time left. And since words didn't work…let's give the old-fashioned beatdown a go, yeah?"

I sighed in defeat. "Oh, Natsu…some things just never change with you."

He just turned and smiled at me in response, in that special way of his that managed to bolster the confidence of anyone around him, as he clapped a hand on my shoulder.

"C'mon, Lucy," he encouraged with mirth as he faced our opponent. "We gotta get our act together—and show this punk what Fairy Tail wizards are made of!"

Wow…nothing plot-worthy happened in this 7K chapter. ._. It was originally supposed to be much shorter than this, but this damn chapter just REFUSED. TO. END. *sigh* And I had to end it on another stupid cliffhanger. Ugh.

Anyway. Sorry for the long wait, folks, as I've already said. Aforementioned life stuff is the likely reason this chapter has more talking than actual fighting…the irony. I'll confess; I wanted to get right into the violence and action in this chapter because I was feeling just that upset at the time I started this, but…that's rushing it, so I held back a bit and had everybody mostly talk instead. It wasn't as satisfying, but it was a compromise I could live with. Writing speeches are a great way to vent; that's why they're so fun to do—and I know for a fact that I'm not alone in this.

Well, then…I will see you guys on the other side (which will be more action-packed, I promise). Thanks for your patience, you guys. :)