AAAH I MISSED THIS STORY'S ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BY A MONTH. DX

…So, uh…anyway…apparently, last chapter was…good, for some reason…according to you guys. Man, you guys are just too nice; I swear. ^^;

And I apologize for the super-late update. Since school started, I've been having less and less time to work on any of my stories.

To the first guest reviewer (ch. 1 and 2): Thank you for your kind words. :)

To mooney-996: Oh, thank you so much; I'm super happy you think so! :3

To Justice Tokidoki: I'm really glad you liked the chapter because there was little action. Load off of my chest. :P Yes, the speeches were fun to do…happy you found them impressive in some way. And about that new ship of yours…yeah, you're the only one who'd think of that at first read. XD I mean seriously, who the heck pairs Life and Death together as a couple? A genderless couple? What even comes out of that relationship? XD

To leonard muller (Guest, ch. 8): Thank you; I'll do my best!

To f . tastarossa: Oh, geez; sorry if I confused you. XD Didn't mean to! And yeah, the chapter is long, but it's actually not the longest one (that would be chapter 15, not counting the prologue). And thank you! I actually didn't work particularly hard on that one, but I appreciate your kind words nonetheless. :)

To aghhhh (Guest, ch. 13): Yay! :D

To treeofsakuras: Yep! It won't be easy for either of them; that's for sure. And yes, that still needs to happen to beat Death—the biggest draw here is how it'll happen. ;) But however it does, it's pretty much a given that it won't be pretty for Natsu.

Ch. 19: Earth, Our Personal Hell

Lucy

Unfortunately, Death was right on top of us before we could make another move.

"That's enough!" Both of its hands blazed with angry flames as it socked the both of us in the gut with its fiery fists, sending us flying backward—me against a spire, Natsu on a huge (thankfully blunt) stalagmite yards in front of me, knocking the breath out of both of us. "I've grown weary of this child's game—now I will end you!"

"Gah, shut it already!" I heard Natsu exclaim in impatience, detaching himself from the huge rock formation in anger as he again lunged for its throat. "I'm sick and tired of listening to your high-and-mighty rambling!"

Natsu managed to catch Death by the throat—and push it right back against the wall, pinning it there. He seemed to have a hard time of it, though, and that was when he called out to me.

"Hey, Lucy!" he yelled, his words echoing throughout the cavern. "Bring out your horseman with the bow and arrows! We gotta keep this guy pinned down!"

I quickly rose to my feet, wincing from the previous impact. "R-right!" I went for my key pouch and pulled off the correct key and intoned, "Open, Gate of the Archer—Sagittarius!"

A bright yellow light illuminated the cavern briefly, and Sagittarius appeared in a cloud of smoke, his horse costume dapper and clean, his bow primed and ready, and the spirit himself saluting to nobody, as usual.

"You called, my lady?" he asked, standing at attention.

"Use your arrows to pin down the one Natsu's holding against the wall!" I ordered urgently.

"Right away!" He nocked five arrows into his bow even as he questioned, "May I ask why there are two of your ally, Miss Lucy?"

"I'll explain later; just hurry up and do it!" I cried frantically. "There's not much time!"

"Yes; right away, ma'am; pinning him down!" He released his arrows, and as expected, they hit right on target—the arrows pierced Death's clothes and lodged it into the opposite limestone wall, expertly avoiding hitting the real Natsu, who finally released his hold on it—for the moment.

"Just in time," he sighed. He turned and flashed me a quick grin and a thumbs-up. "Good going, partner!"

I giggled, returning both in kind. "You bet!"

Death grunted in frustration, trying and failing to pull free. "What are these arrows?" it growled.

"Those aren't any ordinary arrows, my good sir!" Sagittarius answered while saluting rather unnecessarily. "They're infused with Celestial magic that keeps the target from removing them unless the archer wills it!"

"In other words," I summed up, "it's gonna keep even something like you in a fix for at least a couple minutes unless we give the say-so." I turned back to Sagittarius in gratitude. "Thanks for the help, Sagittarius!"

"It was my pleasure!" he intoned, saluting again as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Death took the time to stare quizzically after my equine-garbed Celestial Spirit vanished before getting back to the situation at hand. "A couple minutes? That amount of time means nothing—you won't be able to accomplish anything in that span of time."

"I beg to differ," Natsu came in then coldly, fixing his attention back on his doppelganger. "A couple minutes is all I need to take care of you." He clamped a hand on Death's right arm and another on its neck. "And if you were paying attention when we were knocking each other around earlier," he hissed with pleasure, "you'd understand what I've really been doing."

Once again, I was lost on what Natsu was saying—and so was Death…at least for a moment, after which its eyes widened in a panic and it started squirming as hard as it could to break free of his grip—but to no avail.

"What—what are you doing to me?!" it demanded, its eyes still widened in terror. "Release me now!"

"Don't think so," Natsu breathed hungrily, shuddering as he inhaled deeply and tightening the hold he had on Death's body. "I'm gonna be taking back what's mine, Death—and then some! I won't let you stop me!"

That's when things clicked in place for me—it seemed to me that every time Death and Natsu came in contact with each other, Natsu was somehow reclaiming a bit of his soul from its body. And now, this prolonged exposure was weakening Death's physical form and strength because Natsu was retaking his soul by the bulk. That was why Natsu had asked me to pin down Death for him. He didn't want to waste any more time—and it was why Death was looking so worried now. It also explained why Death looked like it was on the ropes every time Natsu got a hit in.

Natsu's hungry, almost ravenous expression during this process disturbed me immensely, despite being consciously unable to blame him. Retrieving the rest of his soul was probably the most satisfied he'd ever feel in his lifetime, considering the ramifications of having only a fraction of it in his body for so long.

Still, that didn't change the fact that this felt incredibly wrong. Was there really no other way to get rid of Death's physical existence? There had to be some other method that no one thought of yet…

My thoughts were interrupted by Natsu's sharp cry of pain. My eyes refocused on the two of them, and I was horrified—Death had already broken free, and Natsu had been knocked back with such force that he'd been forced on his knees, clutching his heart and wincing. He looked almost…sick.

"Natsu!" I cried, running up to him.

"Stay back!" he ordered as he kept his hot-dagger-glare on Death. I froze on the spot at the sight of it. "Don't worry about me; I'm fine! Stay out of this!"

"But—!"

"What's this?" Death grunted mockingly as it stared at Natsu, looking paler and sallower than usual. "Not going to finish the job?"

Natsu didn't bother replying. He just knelt there, still grasping his chest, gritting his teeth and looking beyond frustrated.

"Oh, I see how it is!" It staggered to its feet. "Of course—the body never forgets the pain it endures…seems like yours just got a pretty clear reminder."

Natsu didn't tear his glare away from Death, but it was really obvious to me now that he wasn't feeling as well as he did before. Even though he should've been rejuvenated by taking back at least some more of his soul from Death, whatever had just happened to him had seemed to make it all moot. After all, complete soul or not, illness was illness—no one was immune to it. Now it didn't matter that Death was objectively weaker; we were back at square one when it came to odds.

At first, it didn't make sense to me why he was suddenly acting this way. Then I thought about what Death had just said…and it clicked into place.

The last time Natsu had felt sick was before we knew what Death really was, back when it had first entered Natsu's heart and made him pass out. At that time, it made us believe that it was just a demon bent on razing the continent to the ground.

I probably should've expected something like this once I learned that Natsu had to retake both his soul and Death in order to put it back in its place. I mean, it had happened just like that last time, and it had been really detrimental for him on many levels.

Still, even if I'd realized that sooner, would we've been able to do anything about the inevitable pain he'd be putting himself through doing this?

"Lucy!"

Natsu's voice made me start and snap out of my thoughts. I turned my gaze to him, and he was smiling at me again (albeit wearily) in an attempt to reassure me.

"Stop worrying about me," he scolded me, struggling to get to his feet as he did. "I've been through much worse than this. I can handle it."

My chest threatened to burst with emotion at those words. "Natsu, this is crazy!" I finally screamed, my hands balling into fists and tears rolling down my face. "You've been through enough already, and I don't want to see you getting hurt anymore! This isn't right; there's got to be another way to do this!"

"I know you don't!" he snapped again, glowering at me desperately. "I know you don't like it! I don't like this, either; I want to do anything but this!" He finally managed to stand, his fingers still clasped around his heart. "All of this hurts like hell to the point that—sometimes I think—maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just give up and die!" My heart skipped several beats. "Do you think I'm actually enjoying this? Would I really put myself through this torture just to spite you guys?!

"Seriously, open your eyes! I know this isn't right, but we got no choice! This isn't like the other times—we're dealing with Death here! They're not like Zeref, or Tartaros, or even Acnologia! They're Life and Death themselves; the real deal! We can't cheat them no matter how much we want to! Besides, Death's not gonna go quietly if Life has anything to say about it! We can't break the laws of the universe and get these guys to go easy on a couple humans like us just because you don't want me to get hurt anymore! The world just doesn't work that way!"

Finally, he stopped yelling, and he fought to catch his breath as he did. I felt my own breaths coming short and fast at his sudden outburst, even though they shouldn't be surprising me anymore.

"Lucy…" He looked to me imploringly, his eyes glinting with pleading desperation. "…Please…it's about time for us to grow up. We're not kids anymore!"

His words hit me like a train. The tears wouldn't stop. "Natsu…!"

"Very good!" Death approved, clapping once. "Your acceptance of your fate was long overdue! Idealism has no place in a pathetic world like this one."

To my increasing horror, Natsu didn't even try to argue. He let out a shuddering breath as he wearily bowed his head in defeat. I could see his legs already shaking with the effort of keeping him upright.

"Damn it," he cursed breathlessly, his eyes shadowed by his bangs and his teeth grinding in his frustration. "I'm standing, but…I'm just…so tired…can't even move…damn it…!"

"Wonderful! That makes my job easier." Death stepped forward, heading straight for Natsu, who was now standing powerlessly backed up against the limestone wall. He wasn't moving, he wasn't raising his head…he wasn't doing anything.

It was almost as if…he was giving up.

"It seems that you've taken back most of your magic," it noted in a seemingly even tone as a veneer to the obvious rage underneath, bringing out that same knife from before that it'd used to practically eviscerate him while he'd been unconscious, "but you're in no shape to use it against me now. And this…" The knife in its hand glinted in the strange light of the cavern as it finally reached him. Natsu didn't give any sign of being aware of the blade. "…I believe that this'll be enough. I won't need to physically touch you to kill you. To commemorate your persistence, however, I'll make this quick so you won't suffer any longer. Think of this as a thank-you gift from me to you, for entertaining me all this time."

Death raised its weapon, and still Natsu wasn't budging. I wanted to yell at him to get out of the way, or fight back, or do something, but my voice wouldn't work. Nothing was coming out.

"It's been fun playing with you, Natsu Dragneel," it said formally, looking almost dismayed, like it was being forced to throw away its favorite toy after breaking it one too many times to the point it was beyond fixing, "but this is goodbye."

My heart beat went into overtime as the weapon rushed toward Natsu's heart. I ran to stop Death from touching him, but in my heart, I knew I wasn't going to make it in time.

Natsu… I thought desperately, still running as fast as my legs would carry me, What's going on…why aren't you doing anything?! If you don't do anything to stop it, you'll…!

Not even my thoughts wanted to go there. I still didn't want to acknowledge it. Do something… I begged. Do something…!

Natsu was pressed against the wall now. I couldn't do more than reach out in vain just as the knife plunged into his chest and forced him to cough up blood.

Once that happened, I couldn't move. I couldn't cry. I couldn't even scream. All I could do was stare in horror at the blood.

There was so much of it. I hadn't expected so much to come out. This wasn't half as gruesome as what had happened to the master, but still…

"Well, then," Death smiled in satisfaction. It still hadn't let go of the knife. "I believe this concludes our business. It has been a pleasure." It chuckled. "You might have stood a chance once you'd gotten your magic back, if it weren't for your body's untimely reminder of the kick-off moment. A bout of bad luck, isn't it?"

"…Who said I needed my magic to beat you?"

Neither of us had expected that. Both of us refocused on his face, and we both saw that he was grinning. Blood was dripping from his lips, and his own clothes were soaked in it, but he somehow still found the energy to smile and mock Death in its face with a knife buried hilt-deep in his chest.

That was Natsu, alright. He was still alive and kicking.

"These hands…are all I need to get rid of you," he said, his voice raspy but still somehow comprehensible, as he grasped both of its arms and locked his grip, "and now…you're right where I want you. Thanks for falling for it, by the way. Can't believe you took the bait that fast."

I wanted to kick him in the face for being stupid enough to do something that risky in order to trap Death. I wanted to lock him in a headlock and call him a moron for nearly killing himself just so he'd have a slightly easier time getting rid of his crazy doppelganger.

But at the moment, I was just glad he was still alive.

Also, seeing Death completely freaking out at seeing Natsu survive its supposedly fatal blow was a definite bonus.

"How—" Death seemed unable to find the words. "You—you should be—how are you still alive?!"

"Heh…you tell me," Natsu rasped tauntingly. "You're Death, aren't ya? You tell me why I'm still alive…'cause I sure as hell don't give a damn."

"You—" It tried to pry itself free, but it didn't look like Natsu was going to give this time. He was holding onto its arms as if he'd die if he let go—which wasn't far from the actual truth.

"I don't think so," he hissed, his grip tightening. "There's only place you'll be going—back where you belong!"

Natsu

Did it work? Yep. Was it risk-heavy? Very. Was it smart?

…Not really.

I'll admit it; I could've very easily died doing that, because only so many people can survive being stabbed in the ticker. But as they say…desperate times called for desperate measures—and this situation had been pretty desperate.

Since Lucy's arrows hadn't worked in the end, I had to think of some other way to keep the bastard in one place—and this was the only answer that I could think of that had a good chance of happening, and I couldn't settle for any marginal probabilities in a situation like this.

Believe it or not; what surprised me most wasn't the fact that I'd survived the knife to my chest (Life had that covered for the time being). It was that it didn't hurt as much as I had thought it would. I mean, c'mon—a knife through your chest—y'know, where all the important organs are, especially that thick fist-sized lump of pulsating muscle that keeps you alive? Seriously, you'd expect that to deliver a whole lot of pain because, well…yeah, I'm sure I explained already. It was probably the adrenaline and shock, but who the heck was to say, anyway.

Aside from all that, though, I really had to work to avoid passing out from the familiar disgusting pain in my chest, only made worse by that knife—Death really didn't want to go back in there. Last time, no knife had been involved and it had still had been enough to knock me out on the spot and give me freaky nightmares. I couldn't afford to let that happen now—Death needed to go down, and it needed to go down four hundred years ago, no matter how much it didn't want that at the moment.

And of course, not that painful or otherwise…this was a lot of blood to lose. Even I was growing queasy at the sight of the huge amount that was coming out of me, so I had to force myself to look away to keep from getting even more sick. I probably should've kicked the bucket ages ago just from blood loss, but again…Life. He was probably the only reason I was this lucid right now. You have no idea how much I wanted to deck that jerk, but self-abuse isn't productive or worthwhile. Sure, healing on the spot was nice and convenient, but it freaking hurt. And this one I instinctively knew wasn't going to heal—at least not for a while. So…add in blade-through-the-heart, multiply that with the slow and agonizing pain by about a thousand, and you'll figure out just how many damns I didn't give about this "advantage".

Know that feeling when you know you're being used but can't do anything about it? Yeah, that.

Speaking of, I half-hoped that Lucy wouldn't get upset with me for that little outburst that I'd given her earlier before going through with this. I just had to come out and say it—it was about high time that we realized that idealism wasn't going to work on everything. 'Cause seriously, nobody was immune to death. We could defy it all we wanted, but it'd still catch up eventually. And of course, we had to learn that the hard way. Man, this world was way messed up.

Better late than never, though, I guess. I already knew the ramifications that this injury had on me and my life. Really; Life and I had discussed this just before he kicked me back into my body.

"You want to burn your hearth of life into ashes?" he asked me with a warning glare. "Are you sure about that? You do realize what you will be doing to yourself in the process."

"Well, yeah, 'course I do," I answered. "I know I'm not exactly the best at following logic or anything, but I know what'll happen to me if I do this. It's the only way I can even have a chance at knocking Death down a few pegs."

"That's not what I'm talking about. You do this, and you will be able to re-enter your body and do what you feel you must—but once you accomplish your task, you won't ever be able to go back to your old life ever again once this is all over. There will be consequences."

"Quit trying to spare me; I already know what's gonna happen! It was pretty much decided from the beginning of this that I wouldn't be going back to the way things were before all this crap happened. Don't go stating the obvious to me like you know everything, you self-righteous prick."

His gazed tightened at my answer. "…Very well, then. Twelve hours is the most time I can give you before your consciousness wears out and succumbs to Death's influence. I trust that you can put Death back in its place before then."

"Keep your nose out of the fight as much as possible, and I'll do it in one."

"…I can't guarantee that."

"Ugh…fine, you can interrupt me just once. But that's all!"

That task had been tricking Death into impale me in the heart and pinning it in place…and since that was done, I knew what this meant for me.

I was alive now, most of my soul was back where it belonged, and I wasn't going to die from any physical injury until I put Death back where it belonged…but I would die by the end of this. Really soon, if this next part went as planned.

In the end, I chose not to tell Lucy that. She was devastated enough as it was; she didn't need that kind of baggage. It would be much easier letting her think that I'd survive to the end and not have to die since I survived this knife wound than telling her that I'd be dead no matter what by the time this was all over. The pain that she'd feel would happen no matter what I told her, so I felt that it was better to give her a reprieve from that for now, even if only for a few moments. Some things are just better left unsaid in the long run.

At this point, I was feeling so sick that I probably would've already upchucked onto the cavern floor if my stomach hadn't been empty at the moment. I couldn't really feel my hands holding anything anymore, but I somehow still knew that this wasn't quite over yet. I couldn't feel my hands, but I could still sense some kind of pressure—Death was still very much tangible.

I felt my punctured heart suddenly spasm, and I couldn't fight off this wave of pain. I passed out.

Leave it to being partially soulless to get me tossed into another alternate plane of existence once I went unconscious. Just how things went.

This time, I ended up in a familiar place—the house where I'd seen Leia—no, Death—murder everyone here in cold blood. It had that same abandoned look from before, but the house was completely empty this time. I could just tell that no people were here.

"Geez, why do I keep ending up in the same place…?" I was majorly annoyed, but I decided that I should probably take a look around anyway. Maybe I'd find something interesting.

"Don't leave this room!" a voice warned me from out of nowhere, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

"Wh-what the—" I whirled around to find the source of the voice, and was face-to-face with—

"You!" I exhaled, trying to calm down. "Geez, why do you keep doing that? It's like you actually want me dead!"

"How was I to get your attention otherwise?" Life gave me a hard look as he said, "In any case, you can't leave this room. Not unless you want to lose the already-tenuous hold you have on Death."

I groaned. "Why do you never think to tell me about these things sooner?"

"I only give you information on a need-to-know basis. Excess knowledge is an unnecessary burden."

"Oh, yeah; real considerate of you." I huffed impatiently. "So, mind telling me why I'm back here in the first place? It's because I'm sucking in Death right now, isn't it?"

"Partly."

"Partly? Would it kill you to give me some straight answers for once?"

"What I mean is that the only reason you're here again is because Death is once again vulnerable. More of its memories have been opened up to you."

"That makes no sense. There's nothing here, and I've already seen this place! How the heck do you expect me to believe that more of its memories opened up if this is all I'm seeing?"

"I doubt you'll want to see any more than you already have," he said. "You're lucky I managed to block them off this quickly."

"Block them off? You mean you're keeping me from seeing these memories?"

"Exactly."

"What's the point, though? Aren't I gonna die at the end anyway?"

"That depends entirely on what you decide to do with Death."

That was news to me. "Wait a second. You didn't say anything about that."

"I never felt the need to speak on that matter, because you were dead-set on your decision. I'm not to interfere with your choices."

I was speechless. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel thankful or totally cheated out. "Wow. Thanks for giving me so many options to choose from."

Life just raised an eyebrow in response. "Did you want to see its memories?"

Honestly, I wasn't sure. What I'd already seen had been enough to really rattle me, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle more. Then again, there wasn't really any point in me in seeing Death's memories, because…well, there just wouldn't be. I'd seen enough.

"Question first," I said, crossing my arms. "What exactly does my decision have to do with whether I live or die?"

"By putting Death back in its place, you are choosing to sacrifice your life to restore the balance of the world that had been lost for four hundred years. However, the method in which you do this will greatly affect your chances of survival."

I could feel a tic going in my forehead in annoyance. "That doesn't answer my question."

Life's lips twitched into an odd smile at my words. "Well, then," he said, gesturing behind me, "why don't you take your chances?"

I kept my eyes focused on him. "Yeah, don't think so. I'd like to die sane, thank you very much."

He laughed. "As you will," he said, that strange grin still plastered on his (my) face. "The choice is yours, after all."

I exhaled sharply in irritation. "Uh-huh…right. You know, it's surprising that you're not more upset about this."

"Did you expect me to be?"

"Well, I already know you wouldn't, but still…it's just weird."

Life just shrugged dismissively. "Human beings can only comprehend so much. Keeping a human alive is very taxing on the body, if you haven't noticed. It's nice getting to rest even for a moment."

I thought back to everything that had happened before this, and I was tempted to say something snappy like, I have noticed or something. Seriously, he didn't need to be such an ass about it. "Are you calling me stupid?"

"No. It was you who called yourself stupid."

…Okay, time for a change of topic. "Are you ever going to answer my questions?"

He ignored me. He was suddenly looking dead-serious thanks to some sort of distraction, so I guessed that that distraction was something bad.

"It's here," he said apprehensively.

"What? Here?" That wasn't good. "Why?"

"The answer's quite simple," a second voice sounded from behind me. I whirled around to see Death approaching, its eyes literally glowing red in its anger. "I've come here to erase your will."

For those of you late to the party—yes, it is totally possible to survive a knife through the heart. A 1-in-3 chance, in fact. So—not likely, but possible!

By the way, starting with this one, the last chapters to this story are gonna be relatively shorter. Why? Practicality…and pacing.

(and I have school writing too so please cut me some slack)

Anyway…guys, this story is almost over! Like, maybe two or three more chapters left until the end (kind of)! Isn't it crazy? You are all amazing for sticking with my craziness this long. Really; you guys are awesome. Thanks. :D

See you guys next time!