Chapter Nine
Ruin and Resolve
A car turned further down the alley, the headlights flooding in through the door the dark haired woman had left open and illuminating the formerly dark space.
Natsu glanced up purely by chance, but what he found in the back of the van during that mere moment of brightness had his eyes widening, his entire frame tensing, his blood freezing, and his stomach dropping.
A pale face he hadn't seen in three years was illuminated there, framed by limp locks of gold. Bruises, scrapes, and other discolored patches marred the skin that he had always known to be perfectly clear, and her hair hung in tangled, dirty knots that fell nearly to her waist line.
Her dead, tear-filled eyes were boring into his, and two words, so quiet that he almost didn't catch them, escaped her in a single, trembling breath, "Save me."
The car completed its turn, and darkness enveloped the back of the van once more.
Natsu still numbly stared at where her face had been, his brows furrowed as he thought that maybe the sudden appearance of the blonde had just been a product of the beer he'd downed earlier.
The dark haired woman he'd been conversing with suddenly stepped into his line of sight, the door behind her simultaneously being pulled shut by someone from within the van. She gave him a questioning, daring look, her calculating red eyes scanning over his features, "Is there something else you wanted to say?
Still questioning whether or not he'd really seen the blonde, he stared at the woman before him in silence for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh and retreating back to his still tipped bike, brushing past Loke and Elfman, "Forget it. Let's go."
Both parties retreated to their respective vehicles, Natsu and Elfman righting their bikes before Loke took a seat behind the Strauss boy, the salmon haired boy staring at the van with narrowed eyes as it backed up a bit onto the perpendicular road it'd come from before turning back into the alley and driving away in the right direction.
He clenched his hands on his motorcycle handles, tentatively tearing his gaze away from the van for the briefest of moments to glance at his friends, "Did…did you guys see her, too?"
Elfman nodded, his gaze similarly focused in the direction of the van while Loke confusedly looked between the two, stretching out the aching shoulder he'd landed on during the crash, "What? Who?"
Natsu let out a heavy, regretful sigh. He should've done something after all. And just like that, another regret was added to a list of many.
His eyes trailed off to where the van had disappeared around a bend in the alley a short distance ahead of them, "It was Lucy, right?"
"Lucy?" Loke confusedly repeated the name, trying to recall why it sounded it so familiar, "Lucy…you mean the pretty blonde from Crocus? Didn't she just kind of fall off the face of the earth after her brother died? I thought she moved back to Crocus." At his friends' somber silence, he looked between them once more, "So…what about her?"
"She said something..." Natsu started, deep in thought, "and she was looking right at me, too." He briefly glanced at his friends before turning his face forward, his features showing pure determination as he revved his bike, "She asked me to save her."
"Natsu! You know that this is fucking insane, right?!"
The salmon haired boy ignored Loke's cries from where he and Elfman were driving behind him, only clenching his hands tighter on the handles of his motorcycle. He didn't care if what they were doing was crazy, he'd already decided that he'd follow his gut from now on, and it was pure instinct that was driving him forward.
It hadn't been hard to find the van, their motorcycles able to travel through the tight alleyways of Magnolia at a much greater speed than the larger vehicle. They now trailed behind it at a safe distance, even turning off to speed through a few alleys every now and then before making their way back to the main road that the van now traveled on, even turning their headlights off to avoid being noticed.
They were going after Lucy, and Natsu would be damned if he didn't help her this time around. He'd ignored her pleas for help in the past, but he was different now, and he would definitely save her, no matter what it took.
"Ya know," Zancrow started nonchalantly, after they had been driving for some time in silence, "Those boys back there looked like they were around your age, Lucy. You know them by any chance?"
The blonde swallowed heavily. It had been them again. Natsu and his two friends, Loke and Elfman, whom she'd never had the chance to officially meet. How the salmon haired boy always managed to show up in her most dire time of need was beyond her, but she desperately prayed that this time around, he would answer her cry, if he'd even heard her in the first place. She hadn't risked talking louder than a whisper for the sake of not being overheard by the men in the car with her, but given Natsu's reaction, it'd seemed like he understood.
At her lack of an answer, her father took the liberty of responding to Zancrow for her, "Well, Lucy dropped out shortly after we moved here, so she probably didn't have the chance to make friends."
That wasn't entirely false, but definitely not the whole truth either. Even if she had attended high school in Magnolia for a little less than two weeks, the interactions that she'd shared with the salmon haired boy and his friends during her time there had made it hard for her to forget them, and she knew that the same must be true for Natsu and Gray.
She briefly wondered why the raven haired boy wasn't with them, knowing that the group of four were the type of friends that were always together, no matter what. But then again, she'd never heard the specifics of his imprisonment, and it saddened her to think that he may still be locked away for a crime he hadn't committed. A bitter chuckle threatened to escape her lips when she realized that they were still kindred spirits after all, both of them having spent the last three years being held against their will in a place that brought them torment.
But a new thought soon took precedence in Lucy's mind and her eyes widened as she gazed out her window, catching sight of a pair of motorcycles slipping in between the spaces of the buildings at her left. She pressed her hand against the glass and slowly inhaled when the lone rider of the bike at the front of the pair glanced her way, and her eyes connected with a pair of onyx orbs.
It was him.
Just as the van disappeared over the crest of a hill, the motor of Natsu's motorcycle began to make peculiar popping sounds, black smoke rising up into his face from underneath the structure.
Maybe his bike hadn't survived the crash unscathed after all.
"Dammit!" he hissed as he felt it slowing to a stop, fruitlessly twisting his wrists and urging it to go faster. He'd lost Elfman and Loke back in an alley, their larger load preventing their bike from making as sharp of turns as his could, and with them out of the picture, he was the only left who could follow the blonde.
He abandoned his bike completely, uncaring as it smashed onto its side in his haste and making a mad dash up the rest of the hill, running as he fast as he could.
His heart dropped when he reached the hill's peak, the van long gone and lost in the maze of roads that branched off into the residential district of Magnolia. He ripped his helmet off his head, chucking it to the pavement as he let out a furious, wordless shout.
He'd failed her again.
Lucy flinched as Kain slammed the door to her new room behind her. The pale, brutish male had kept a tight grip on her shoulder during their short walk from the car, and Ultear, Zancrow, and her father had all kept a wary eye on the blonde on their way to the front gate of the wall that surrounded their new home.
Ultear had told them that the house once belonged to a former patron of Zentopia who'd died of stomach cancer a few years back, and upon his death he'd left all he owned to the church.
The blonde curled in on herself when she peered through the window of her room, barely distinguishing the metal shine of bars that ran vertical only a few inches away from the glass from the darkness of night outside.
They'd really taken extra care to make sure that she couldn't run, and now she felt more like a prisoner than she ever had before.
The room was empty, which meant there was no bed for her to collapse onto for a moment of reprieve. So instead, she pressed her back against one of the walls, and slowly slid to the floor, pulling her legs into her chest and resting her arms atop her knees so she could bury her head in them, the first of her tears slipping free as she heard her father lock her bedroom door.
With all that had just happened and remnants of adrenaline still lingering in his veins, Natsu wasn't in the mood to retire to his hotel room just yet. So he'd gone to visit Wendy again, not having gotten his fill of being in her presence because of Zeref's unexpected arrival earlier.
He switched on the lamp on her bedside table, letting out a heavy sigh when he found that her eyes were still open, focused at least somewhat in his direction, "You still haven't gone to bed?"
Just like he'd been expecting, there was no response.
The salmon haired boy quirked a brow when he noticed that she had earphones in, and he let out a small chuckle when he realized that it was one of the voice recorders he'd sent her during his time in Crocus. Zeref or one of the nurses must've left it playing for her before they left, though Natsu was pretty sure that it was the latter given his brother's sour mood.
He gently removed the earphones, being careful not to pull on her hair, bitterly remarking aloud, "It must've been boring for you to listen to the same thing over and over."
He plopped himself on his usual stool at her bedside after setting the recorder on the table, his lips pulled tight into a thin line as he looked her over, solemnly remarking, "You…somehow look lonely today." He grabbed one of her hands to let her know that she wasn't alone, thinking about how the dead look in his sister's eyes was reminiscent of how Lucy's irises had appeared earlier, "Wendy…There...there was this girl that I used to like, back in high school." A small smile appeared on his face without his knowledge as he recalled the past, not really sure why he was admitting all this now, "She moved here from Crocus senior year..." He let out a bitter chuckle at his own absurdity as he quietly confessed, "I fell in love with her at first sight.
"But..." his smile faded, and his voice lost its reminiscent air, "...when she asked me for help, do you know what I did? I ran away like a coward." He let out a heavy sigh, his hands clasping tighter around his sister's own, "I don't know what she's doing now, or why she asked me to save her...but I can't stop worrying about her. So this time, I don't want to run away." He slowly slid off of his stool to kneel at her bedside, placing his elbows on the mattress and clasping her hand between both of his own, raising it up to gently press his lips against one of her knuckles, "So…help me, Wendy." He rested his forehead against her fingers, hopelessly wishing for a response he knew he wouldn't get, "I…I don't know what to do."
Lucy was awoken at dawn by her father to await the arrival of the Zentopia apostles so they could be taken to the sunrise service, the blondes now standing beside each other just beyond the front gate of their new home.
The blonde girl numbly looked down as her father grasped her wrist, not a moment of hesitation passing before she demanded with a voice as cold as stone, "Let go of me. I don't want you to ever touch me again," she insisted, quickly peeling her gaze from his face and indifferently watching down the street for the van.
Jude slowly let her wrist fall from his grasp, disappointment lacing his features.
"Mark my words," Lucy vowed, still not glancing in her father's direction. "Even if you end up regretting everything later and beg me and mom for forgiveness, I absolutely won't forgive you. Not after everything you've done."
To say the least, Gray's first day of work had certainly been more exciting than he'd expected.
He'd been mopping the dance floor alongside the rest of the boys that ran the club before it opened for the day when the intruder had first entered. Through the haze of the pulsing lights as they underwent their daily checks, he hadn't been able to get a good look at the man, only hearing his shouts as he spoke with another employee, demanding to see Jose. And the voice was one the raven haired boy swore he knew, but the man had disappeared into the back of the club before Gray had gotten the chance to move closer and see for sure. He'd gone back to mopping the floor while the silence was momentarily restored, and when the intruder came back into the front of the club was when things started to get interesting. It was then that Gray confirmed the man was definitely someone he knew after all.
Gajeel had come flying back out into the open space of the club pursued by nearly twenty men, Jose's lackies, Gray was sure. The raven haired boy had simply moseyed to lean back against the stage to watch as Gajeel fought with them, tipping tables and even using the stripper poles to swing and kick several of them in the face at once. Jose himself had stood in the back corner, silently and bitterly watching on as his men were taken down one by one. Gajeel had chucked a metal bat, one he'd taken off of his attackers, at the space beside Jose's head before he stormed out of the club, purposefully only narrowly avoiding hitting the man.
The place was absolutely trashed by the end of the fight, the floor strewn with broken wine glasses, tipped tables, and nearly twenty unconscious bodies. While his coworkers began the lengthy task of cleaning it up, Gray left his mop behind, tucking his hands into the pockets of the slacks of his work uniform as he ducked out the club. He started down the stairs to the sidewalk, a smirk lifting the corner of his lips as he strode towards where Gajeel had just swung his leg over a parked motorcycle, "You got beef with Porla?"
"Thought I saw you in there," Gajeel nonchalantly remarked, only partially out of breath from his fight and not seeming the least bit surprised by Gray's presence. "You finally get out, and you choose to work here of all places?"
The raven haired boy glanced over his shoulder at the building behind him, his hand unconsciously coming up to the finger the maroon bowtie that matched the velvet vest he'd been given, "I needed money. I didn't really have the luxury of working somewhere else. Not many places will take a recently released prisoner."
Gajeel quirked a brow, but nodded his head in understanding nonetheless. Prison was where they'd met after all, so he knew how the raven haired boy was feeling better than anyone.
His tone was slightly less snide as he questioned, "You meet up with those friends of yours?"
Gray's gaze fell to the ground as he shook his head, looking almost ashamed of himself as he bit his bottom lip.
"I get it," Gajeel's gaze trailed off, his voice growing bitter. "As you get older, your friends sometimes become your enemies, and your enemies become your friends. It's better not to make ties at all in the first place."
The raven haired boy caught on to the hidden meaning in his tone, "Porla used to be your friend?"
"'Friend' really isn't the correct term," Gajeel's gaze whipped back to him as he let out a heavy sigh, "He took me in off the streets when I was kid. He was the closest thing to a father I ever had. When I was sixteen he placed the blame for a murder he'd committed on me, and he sent me off to prison without a second thought." He chuckled bitterly to himself, "Now that I'm free, I thought I'd finally give the man a piece of mind." His tone suddenly shifted as he looked to the younger boy, "Come find me if you need any help. We're one in the same, both with a lump of iron in our chests...See ya around."
Gray nodded his head and lifted his hand in a wave as the biker sped off. At least now he knew that he wasn't entirely alone in this world after all.
Lucy silently loaded boxes of goods into the back of one of Zentopia's vans without complaint, the church preparing for another fundraiser in town, just like the one she'd been forced to go on with Sting all those years ago. After last night, she didn't really have the drive to keep physically protesting, but she'd resolved to verbally spite them with every chance she got. Her attempts at escape had gotten her nowhere, so she'd resolved to show them through whatever means necessary that even though she wasn't fleeing, they'd never get her to give in entirely and conform. She hoped that eventually, they'd tire of her and let her free, though she knew that the chances of that happening were slim, at least for the time being.
Ultear approached her from behind, a warm smile on her lips, "Did you sleep well, Lucy? How was your new room?"
Lucy didn't even glance at the apostle, silently continuing on with her task of loading things into the trunk.
"You needn't worry."
And suddenly her father was there, filling in the blanks of all of the conversations she didn't want to have.
"I'm praying hard for Lucy to return to her senses and gather her strength.
Ultear clasped her hands in front of her chest, "Our wishes be fulfilled."
Lucy clenched her jaw. She hated that phrase. There wasn't an ounce of regret or timidity in her voice as she ground out, "Disgusting."
Ultear's gaze slowly slid to her, "Lucy…what did you just say?"
Jude was aghast, "Did you really…"
Lucy turned to face them fully, stating firmly and without restraint, "I said that you're both disgusting."
"Such a foul word shouldn't come from such a pretty mouth."
The blonde clenched her jaw at the new voice that sounded out from behind her. Of course Zancrow would turn up at a time like this.
She spun around to face him and give him a piece of her mind, though her body went rigid when she caught sight of him, his hands gripping the back of a wheelchair with her mother in it.
Layla was staring blankly at her daughter, her brows crinkling in confusion as she mumbled, "Sting already went to school…why is Lucy still here?"
"If you don't want to worry your mother," Zancrow started, his crimson eyes holding a threat and promising retaliation, "you shouldn't say or do bad things from now on. Understand?"
The blonde swallowed heavily at the message his words carried.
How could he threaten her mother so openly? And how did her father not perceive the peril his wife was in when he was looking into the same piercing crimson irises that Lucy was?
Her gaze slowly drifted to the ground, her hands clenching into fists at her sides as a sense of hopeless, which was beginning to grow familiar, weighed down upon her chest once more.
Gray let out a heavy, weighty sigh as his feet scuffed through the neatly-trimmed grass that grew between the stones sticking out of the ground, a bouquet of daisies delicately cradled in his grasp, along with a carton of fruit. Both the bundle of the flowers and the container were small since they were all he could afford with his meager pay.
He came to a stop in front of one of the stones and kneeled down before it, his voice slightly shaky as he placed the bouquet at the base and held out the carton of fruit towards the grave, "Grandma…I brought dried persimmons, your favorite." He placed the container beside the bouquet as he continued, "How's life on the other side? Your back doesn't hurt there, too, does it? I hope it doesn't."
He lightly ran the tips of his fingers along the 'F' at the front of her last name, thinking over the last time he'd seen her. She'd been sobbing like never before, her hands pressed against the glass that separated them. He'd placed a quick kiss against the window where her right palm rested before he'd been lead back to his cell, a last, futile attempt at comforting her as she was now forced to survive in the world on her own.
She'd died only four months after he'd first been imprisoned.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry for…" he took a deep breath, trying to stop himself from crying, "… for leaving you. For letting you die all on your own." The tears finally fell, his voice choked as he rested his forehead against her grave, "I'm so sorry."
Ultear turned back to Lucy once she'd exited the van, her hands placed on either side of the door frame to block the exit as she reminded the blonde, "Lucy…remember what Zancrow said earlier. You shouldn't say or do bad things from now on if you don't want your mother to worry about you. Okay?"
Her point having been made, Ultear left the side of the van to go help Kain unload the trunk, and Lucy was grateful that Zancrow wasn't there himself to rub in the leverage they had over her.
Steeling her resolve, she took a few deep breaths before exiting the van, her features purposefully set in cold indifference as she left to promote a church she loathed more than anything else.
"Natsu!"
The salmon haired boy startled, blearily realizing that Loke had been calling his name for quite some time now. He'd spaced out while leaning back against an adjacent table and waiting for his turn in their game of pool, his focus somewhere beyond the window at his left and his cue clasped tightly between both of his hands.
Loke was giving him a knowing look, "You still thinking about yesterday?"
Natsu let out a heavy sigh, scratching at the back of his head, "I just can't forget about it." His voice grew heavier as he sourly remarked, "She…she looked like shit in all honesty."
"Then should we try looking for her?" Elfman suggested.
Natsu stood and paced closer to the window, leaning on his cue as his eyes aimlessly scanned over the plaza one story below, "You really think we could find her?"
"Well, Magnolia is a pretty small town," the orange haired playboy shrugged. "Plus, with Juvia's help, practically no one's life is private."
"Hey guys," Natsu suddenly shifted on his feet and tightened his grasp on his cue, disbelief in his voice as he focused on the east side of the plaza. "Would you call this a coincidence, or fate?"
The other two rushed to look over his shoulders, incredulity taking over their features as well when they saw what awaited in the plaza below.
There, beside a clustered group of tables that rested in the shade of two large umbrellas, was the very blonde they'd been talking about. She didn't look as torn as she had the previous night, only the faintest hints of scrapes and bruises remaining on her pale face, though Natsu was sure that that had something to do with makeup. She actually seemed to be somewhat aglow in her white sundress, her gold hair having obviously been washed and lightly curled to tumble in waves down her back.
Her eyes though, they were definitely the same as last night, still appearing dead and unfocused.
Natsu's gaze traveled to the tables she was standing by, his eyes skimming over the signs that littered the area. They spoke of a campaign for children in poverty abroad, and sitting at one of those tables, conversing with a boy that looked to be their age, was the same woman from last night, the one who'd swayed them into giving in to her wishes for taking equal blame.
The salmon haired boy's brows furrowed, "What the hell are they doing?"
Loke's nose crinkled, "Something seems kind of fishy."
"It doesn't look like she's in big trouble from here," Elfman remarked. "Why do you think she asked us to save her?"
After staring at the blonde in silence for a moment more, Natsu moved from his spot at the window, nearly chucking his cue back onto its stand on the wall as he started towards the stairs, "I guess we'll just have to go ask her ourselves."
Lucy had busied herself with appearing like she was skimming over the words on the flyers in her hands, not really processing what she was reading and not bothering to hand them out to passerby anymore. Her blank state was broken when a shadow suddenly fell over the stack of papers she was holding up, and her gaze traveled upward, her eyes widening in surprise when she found Natsu standing before her, his jaw set in determination and his two friends at his flanks, both with similar looks of conviction.
The blonde caught sight of Ultear approaching them in her peripherals, but the apostle stopped a short distance away when the salmon haired boy began to speak.
"Do you really need help?" His voice was firm despite the glares he was receiving from Ultear and Kain, a promise in his voice as he pledged, "If you're in danger…I'll help you."
Before the still wide-eyed blonde could respond, Ultear sharply cut in, "What are you talking about?" She pressed her lips into a thin line and her gaze snapped to the girl, "Tell them yourself, Lucy. Tell them if you're in danger or not."
Lucy's gaze sank to the ground for a moment, her mind consumed by Ultear and Zancrow's earlier words.
"You shouldn't say or do bad things from now on if you don't want your mother to worry about you."
She couldn't let her mother get hurt because of her. She couldn't lose the only family she had left, not after losing Romeo and Sting to death and her father to a world of false promises. Jude seemed to be gone entirely, but Lucy knew that if she could get Layla free of Zentopia's clutches and in the hands of someone who could actually help her recover, she could have her mother, her real mother, back again.
Her gaze shakily traveled up to connect with Natsu's, her hands beginning to tremble at her sides.
He must've seen the fear in her irises, his tone much softer than before when he spoke again, "It's okay. If you're really in danger, I swear I'll save you this time."
Lucy could feel everyone's eyes on her. Natsu and his friends, Ultear and Kain, and even a few of the people they'd drawn to the tables behind them to fill out the survey for the fundraiser had shifted their attention to the exchange.
She decided that avoiding his question was her best bet, not wanting to turn his aid away completely but still desperately needing Ultear and Kain to believe that she wasn't admitting her desperate desire to be free of their church.
The blonde dropped her gaze once more, fastening her focus to one of the buttons that ran down the center of Natsu's chest while she spoke. She couldn't look him in the eyes while she said her next words, knowing that if she did, she wouldn't be able to keep herself together. Because just like that first day they'd encountered one another in the rain, there was something familiar about his onyx orbs that made her want to trust him and tell him everything.
"You should just go."
The salmon haired boy shifted on his feet at her blunt response, his brows furrowed, "What?"
Now that she'd started, her courage and resolve had grown, the girl finally feeling able enough to lift her gaze to his, "Please…go away."
His features hardened in anger, almost like he knew she was lying.
Ultear spun on him, a hint of satisfaction in her biting tone, "See? She just said it herself."
He didn't pay the dark haired apostle any mind, insistently keeping his attention fastened to the blonde, "Are you really, seriously telling me the truth right now?"
Her gaze fell to the ground once more, the blonde standing quietly for a moment before she softly nodded her head. She desperately hoped that her moment of hesitation was enough for him to realize how she truly felt.
Ultear stepped in front of the blonde, her back to Natsu as she physically cut off their conversation, her hands gripping the girl's shoulder as she anxiously whispered, "Let's go, Lucy. Your soul will die if you keep interacting with this evil spirit." She tightly latched onto the blonde's wrist, Lucy slightly resisting her hold and lagging behind her, giving her one last chance to look at Natsu and plead with him through her eyes before she was yanked away.
His gaze trailed her the entire she was dragged away, and her eyes never left his, even as she was shoved into a taxi, Ultear closely following her into the cab.
Speaking to Lucy had only made Natsu more sure of his next plan of action. She'd never given him a direct 'no' when he'd asked her if she was in danger, and her eyes had held the very same desperation as when she'd come pleading for him to help her save her brother all those years ago.
She was in danger, he was sure of it, and he'd resolved to help her no matter what it took.
Elfman had suggested that they try to find out where the blonde lived, or at least where those freaks she'd been with the last two times they'd encountered her lived, and to do that, they needed the best information source Magnolia had to offer.
Pure annoyance was written across Juvia's features as she leaned out the window of her delivery car, her lips pursed and one of her brows quirked in a daring manner.
Natsu ignored her boiling look and cut straight to the chase, "You made any deliveries to some strange people lately?"
The blue haired girl recoiled a bit, quirking a thin brow in confusion as she repeated "What do you mean by 'strange people?'"
"For instance," Loke ran his hand in a cascading motion down the back of his head, "A guy with super gross, long blonde hair that really doesn't suit him and a lady that looks like she's shooting lasers through her eyes." He suddenly grew bashful, "And…a really gorgeous blonde from Crocus?"
Juvia stared at him blankly in silence for a moment before bluntly asking, "What kind of bullshit is that?"
Natsu let out a heavy sigh, feeling exasperated by Loke's antics as well, "Just…think about it, okay?"
She pursed her lips as she thought, "I can't be sure, but…I made a delivery near Strawberry Street yesterday. I did see a dude with some wild blond hair and a lady with dark hair in front of this really old looking house on the north corner of the street on the east side, moving some boxes out of a van that said 'Zentopia.' There was no blonde girl though. Just those two."
The salmon haired boy shifted on his feet at the detail of her memory, honestly not having expected such a quick and helpful reply from the blue haired girl. He quickly overcame his surprise and glanced at his friends, "That's gotta be them, don't you think?" He looked back to the delivery girl, giving her a nod of his head, "Thanks Juvia. You can go now."
She gave them a quick, insincere two-fingered salute before she sped off without another word, though none of the three boys were surprised by her blunt exit. She'd grown altogether less interested in their friend group after Gray had been imprisoned, and they knew that not much could be done to return to her good favor.
"Zentopia…" Loke slowly repeated after a moment of contemplation, "I don't know much about it, but…why do you think she joined a place like that?"
"I don't think she did it willingly," Natsu remarked bitterly, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against his parked bike. Lisanna had fixed it for him that morning, though he hadn't told her the details of the crash that had caused it to break down. "She sure as hell didn't look like she was enjoying her time with them last night. She had tons of bruises and scrapes, too, so who knows what hell they've put her through."
"What should we do?" Elfman queried. "Do we go to her house right now and try to get her out?"
Natsu was silent for a moment, his tone weighted down with regret and contemplation as he spoke, "What do you guys think Gray would do?"
Loke let out a heavy sigh, his lips pressed into a grim line, "Probably go charge in there without a second thought."
The salmon haired boy nodded his head in agreement, knowing that that was exactly what Gray would've done, just like he had all those years before the events on the school rooftop.
Natsu was trying to follow his gut instincts now though, and for once, his gut was telling him that charging in there without thinking things through first wasn't a good idea. They barely knew a thing about the situation, and throwing themselves into the fray without being prepared for what they might face would likely result in more harm than good.
"Let's meet up again tomorrow," he resolved, swinging a leg over his bike and sliding his helmet over his head. "We'll figure things out then."
Ultear entered Precht's office as quietly as she could, her hands respectfully fastened together in front of herself as she politely began, "You wanted to see me, Spiritual Father?"
The preacher let out a heavy sigh as he stood from his desk at the far end of the room, his voice low as he shortened the distance between them with his hands clasped behind his back, "I heard that there was a little disturbance at the fundraiser earlier."
"Oh…yes," Ultear lowered her gaze, "A few boys around Lucy's age approached her. I believe they were her friends from high school." She placed a soft smile onto her features, "It wasn't a big deal. Nothing for you to concern yourself over."
Precht's firm expression didn't change at her reassurances, "Jude told me that it wasn't the first time. Is that true?"
Ashamed at having their slip up exposed, her gaze fell to the floor once more as she reluctantly admitted, "Yes. We had a minor collision with them in an alleyway a few nights ago. I believe that they saw Lucy in the van then."
"What did they say to her?"
"They asked her if she needed help, and told her that they would help her if she was in danger."
The corners of Precht's lips curled in disgust as he sourly remarked, "Those who need to be saved often act as though they are saviors.
Ultear tried to piece together her cheerful, unbothered persona so that the preacher would forget about the incident, "I think it's just their youthful indiscretion."
"Apostle Milkovich," Precht wasn't at all affected by her pleasantness, his features and voice still firm. "I think it's come time for you to repay the blessing you've received from the Almighty."
The dark haired apostle's grin faded, her eyes searching his in shock and confusion. Why was he bringing that up now of all times?
"Starting tomorrow," Precht continued, "please prepare Lucy to become Spiritual Mother."
"Spiritual…Mother?" Ultear slowly repeated, her eyes wide in disbelief.
The preacher stared the woman dead in the eyes, "I need an innocent spiritual wife if I am to lead everyone on board the Ship of Salvation. Her blood shall be the blood of our atonement."
"Of course, Spiritual Father," Ultear somewhat hesitantly affirmed, her head bowing forward. "Our wishes be fulfilled."
Gray mindlessly swung his single sack of groceries in his hand as he wandered back to his home. Due to his late working hours, he'd barely managed to make it to the store before closing, and the lady at the cashier had given him nothing but dirty and annoyed looks while scanning his things. The raven haired boy hadn't paid her any mind, knowing a grumpy, middle-aged woman was the least of his concerns at the moment.
Just as he rounded the corner that entered the alley that ran along the side of his home, he caught sight of something white parked at the end of the path, his heart rate spiking as he spun back around the corner to press his back against the brick wall, his hands clenching tighter around the plastic handle of his grocery sack.
He hadn't seen that bike in years, but he'd recognize it anywhere. It was one he often used to race against, and it belonged to his former best friend.
For whatever reason, Natsu was here.
Natsu let out a heavy, regretful sigh as he rested his hand atop the front gate of the Fullbuster home, disappointment rushing through him when he'd arrived to find that the windows of the house were void of any light. That meant that either Gray wasn't home or he'd already gone to bed, and Natsu found himself leaning towards giving in to those excuses for leaving the premise without fulfilling the reason he'd come, and he was overcome with a familiar sense of self-loathing once more as he felt his feet carry him back to his bike.
Even after three years of wallowing in regret, he still couldn't do it. He was incapable of working up the courage to approach the boy he'd once called his greatest rival and best friend.
Gray clenched his jaw as he pressed himself harder against the brick wall, a thousand different emotions tugging at his brain and heart, all urging him to do different things.
Without a doubt, when it came to Natsu, there was still a lot of hate and anger towards the salmon haired boy that resided within him. It'd been building since that day Natsu had refused to help Lucy, and it'd only boiled higher from that point on.
Just as Gray worked up the courage to take a step around the corner and let fate decide which way their confrontation would go, he heard the sound of a motorcycle revving to life and speeding away.
He more or less collapsed back against the wall, his sack of groceries nearly slipping from his hand as he thought over the last time he'd seen his salmon haired friend.
Gray pulled his knees into his chest and wrapped his arms around them, wishing he could just sink back into the wall of the funeral home.
The room hadn't had a single visitor since the funeral had begun, the only other person in the room being his parole officer.
His blood-shot eyes were numbly focused on the casket at the far end of the room. He'd never really gotten to say a proper goodbye, nor the chance to thank his grandmother for all of things she'd done for him in her old age.
"Gray."
The raven haired boy's head numbly lulled against the wall as he looked towards the door. Elfman and Loke stood just beyond the frame, both dressed in black suits and the orange haired playboy with his hands clasped reverently in front of him and his head bowed. A suited Natsu trailed in after the other two, his salmon bangs covering his eyes as he approached with his head hung.
The salmon haired boy's appearance finally spurred Gray out of his numb state, his body aching as he pushed himself to his feet. As soon as he was standing, he charged towards Natsu and buried his fist in the boy's jaw without a second of hesitation.
Natsu stumbled back against the wall and Gray moved to follow after him, his fist raised and his features alight with fury.
"Gray, don't!"
The raven haired boy shoved Loke's hands off of his shoulder, not even noticing the orange haired boy tumbling to the floor in his wake. Elfman tackled him around the middle and drove him backwards, eventually pinning him against the far wall.
His patrol officer took a hesitant step forward, obviously unprepared and unknowledgeable of how to stop the situation before him, having expected the raven haired boy to be too distraught to do anything reckless.
Gray's feral gaze was still trained on where Loke had gone to Natsu's side, pounding on Elfman's back as the white haired boy still clenched his arms around his middle, "Let me go!"
Elfman's voice was slightly muffled as he spoke from below, "We're friends, aren't we?!"
The raven haired boy's voice grew louder, his legs kicking out from under him as he haughtily continued his struggle, "I said let go!"
"You need to be here for your grandma!" Elfman shouted, catching sight of the parole officer who stood in the corner of the room. If Gray kept this kind of behavior up, he'd be taken back to prison instantly, he had no doubt. "You can't leave her on her own!"
Natsu suddenly stepped forward, not looking at all angered by what had happened as he fingered the new splotch of blood at the corner of his mouth. His voice was heavy and slightly hoarse as he spoke his first words since he'd entered the funeral room, "Elfman, that's enough…Gray's more hurt than I am."
The raven haired boy's veins flooded with grievous anger. How dare Natsu pretend to know even a fraction of the pain he was going through?
Natsu still kept his gaze trained on Elfman's back, not making eye contact with his rival, "Just let him do whatever he wants."
Elfman's hold loosened a fraction, and Gray took advantage of the small amount of freedom, shoving himself out of his friend's grasp entirely, his eyes burning with furious tears.
"I know you don't want to see me," the salmon haired boy swallowed, his gaze on the floor. "But…please tolerate it just this once."
"Do you know how she died?" Gray choked out after a moment silence, his hands clenched into fists.
Natsu finally gathered the courage to lift his gaze, and he decided that he would've rather been punched again than have to see the raw hurt and agony in his best friend's features.
"She wanted to bail me out," the raven haired boy faltered, his voice uneven and his words slurring together. "So she tried to go back to work. She went out at dawn to collect cardboard boxes from waste bins, and she died in a hit-and-run accident." He began to take slow steps toward the salmon haired boy, "It's all your fault. Just because you wanted to make sure that your stuck-up brother got elected as governor again you…you ruined my life and killed my grandma." Unrestrained fury broke out across his features and in his voice, "You killed us both!" His fist found purchase in Natsu's jaw once more, and the salmon haired boy simply took the punch, not even trying to stop himself from stumbling backwards.
Loke flew forward this time to tackle the raven haired boy, his glasses flying from his face as Gray struggled against his hold.
"Let go!" Gray clenched his hand in the flesh of Loke's right shoulder and shoved himself away from the other boy, his other hand clenched into a fist and poised to punch. His arm froze, his fist still pulled back by his ear, when he caught sight of Loke's expression, the orange haired playboy close to tears. In their nearly thirteen years of friendship, Gray had never seen Loke cry.
The orange haired boy was doing nothing to save himself from Gray's oncoming blow, simply standing there with acceptance written across his features, completely ready to take the hit. "What happened to us?" he bitterly huffed out, nearly out of breath. "How the hell did we end up like this?"
Gray's hand slowly fell back to his side as he used his grip on Loke's shoulder to shove the boy backwards and away from him. He glanced at where Natsu was still pressed against the wall with his head hung, the salmon haired boy having not bothered with recovering after the second punch Gray had landed in his jaw. Gray could tell from the unnatural and sporadic heaving of his shoulders that the salmon haired boy was crying.
He turned to face his grandmother's casket, slowly lowering himself to his knees in front of it as he let his head fall forward, his voice cold as he ground out, "Get out."
He heard no movement behind him, so he screamed, "Get out!"
That was the last time he'd seen Natsu. The last time he'd seen any of them, actually. And he didn't know if he could ever work up the courage to see any of them again. Natsu aside, Laxus had come to his home earlier, awkwardly asking him to stay away from Loke for the sake of ridding the orange haired boy of a potential bad influence. Gray had figured that despite Mira's kindheartedness, she probably wanted similar for Elfman.
Despite his weary body, Gray didn't want to go home anymore. With the memory of his grandmother's funeral now fresh in his mind, he knew it'd be hard for him to think of anything but her as he sat between the walls of the home they'd once shared.
So instead he mindlessly dropped the sack of groceries over the gate, resolving to put them away later, and wandered Magnolia's streets, his feet naturally guiding him to a place that held memories of happier times.
"'With the sacrifice of precious blood, you shall attain salvation.'"
Lucy numbly watched on as her mother drug a trembling finger over the line of scripture, mumbling the same phrase to herself over and over.
"Mom," the blonde breathed softly, her throat tight with sorrow over her mother's disillusions. "There's no salvation to be found here."
There was a slight pause in Layla's mutterings as her daughter spoke, but she was quickly resuming, "'With the sacrifice of precious blood, you shall attain salvation.' 'With the sacrifice of precious blood, you shall-'"
Lucy couldn't take it anymore. She quickly stole the book of Zentopia scripture from her mother's hands, tearing the thin pages of scripture from their bindings as she snapped, "This is all lies, mom!"
Her mother shrieked, trying to tear the book back from her, "No, Lucy!"
"It will only encage us and bring us ruin!" The blonde continued to shred the pages, uncaring as they fluttered to the floor, "Mom, please don't do this anymore!"
Layla finally yanked the book from her daughter's grasp, not an ounce of sanity and lucidness in her wide, blood-shot eyes as she protectively hugged it to her chest with both arms and chastised, "Lucy, don't you know how valuable this is?! We can't live with Sting in paradise without it!" Her gaze traveled to Lucy's left side, focusing on the space just behind her daughter, a warm smile emerging on her features as she lightly questioned, "Isn't that right, Sting?"
Lucy could only watch on as her mother spiraled even further away from reality. Any attempt she'd made at getting through to the woman was lost on deaf ears, and more often than not spawned a violent reaction.
Layla suddenly giggled to herself in happiness, "Did you see that, Lucy? Sting's disability disappeared after we came here. This place really is paradise."
The blonde girl swallowed heavily, mumbling to herself since she knew her mother wouldn't listen, "But now…I'm the one who's in pain."
"Sting…" her mother's voice suddenly sounded upset, a heavy contrast to her previously joyful tone, "…why are you saying that?" She blankly looked back to her daughter, "Lucy, trying talking to your brother. He keeps saying strange things."
The girl swallowed to ease the tightness in her throat, too drained to tell her mother that she was hallucinating, "What is he saying, mom?"
"He keeps saying that it's wrong. He says we shouldn't stay here."
Lucy's eyes widened a fraction, but before she could say anything more, the door to the hospital room was shoved open.
Jude didn't offer his wife any form of greeting as he came to stand beside his daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder, "Lucy, Spiritual Father would like to see you."
Natsu hadn't known where to go after his unsuccessful visit to the Fullbuster home, once more feeling restless and altogether incapable of getting a solid night of sleep after the day he'd had. After encountering Lucy again, he couldn't get himself to calm down and think things through clearly, and the uncertainty of the whole situation with Gray had only increased his anxiety.
He'd somehow wound up outside of Magnolia's bull fighting stadium, a place where he and his friends had once gathered on the weekends to place bets against each other.
That weekly tradition ended when Gray had been taken away.
As he stood in the large plaza before the stadium, his hands tucked into his pockets, he recalled all of the times he'd spent there, and once more grieved over his loss of them.
It was horribly profound how nearly thirteen years of friendship could change so dramatically in the span of only a few days.
The salmon haired boy's already uneasy frame tensed when he heard light footfalls echo from somewhere else in the plaza, and his chest involuntarily tightened when he caught sight of the other person walking on the very edge of the large, open space, their head down and their unbothered aura letting him know that they hadn't noticed him standing there yet in the dark night.
Even if he hadn't seen it in three years, he'd recognize that mop of raven hair anywhere.
Lucy made sure to keep her back impeccably straight as she took a seat beside her father and across from Zancrow and Ultear on the couches in Precht's office. The blonde wanted to make sure that the preacher, who sat in his own chair perpendicular to the couches, didn't think she was intimidated by him like some of the other members of Zentopia might be, her gaze steadfastly and unflinchingly connected with his.
Her lack of deference for him seemed to only make him more intrigued with her. He offered her the smallest hint of a grin as he began with her name, taking his time with admiring the syllables like they were the sweetest things in the entire world, "Lucy. Do you know what the Nine Fruits of the Almighty are?"
Without missing a beat, Lucy firmly responded, "Love, patience, diligence, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, fidelity, and moderation." The three years she'd spent at the church weren't for nothing, and even though she'd loathed every second of it, she'd nonetheless paid attention to the teachings she'd been forced to attend, her mind fruitlessly trying to figure out why the religion attracted and enraptured her father like it had. "'You can only free yourself from the agony and pain of this evil world when you lead a life that bears all nine fruits.' Is that what you were going to say?"
He chuckled to himself, "You remember it well. However, you shouldn't show your faith with your head, but with your actions instead."
"Faith isn't something you can impose on others," Lucy solidly avowed.
Precht wasn't at all thrown off by her attitude, "Do you remember the state you were in when you first came here?"
The blonde reluctantly recalled the first time she'd been in this office, seated next to Sting and across from her parents. Despite how hard their life had seemed to be back then, she would give anything to go back. That way, her twin would still be at her side, and her parents would be there for her, too, despite the flaws that they'd had even back then.
"In my eyes," Precht hummed as he reminisced, "you were a young lamb with a scar across her heart. You felt guilty because you blamed yourself for your brother's disability."
Lucy wanted to hate him and snap at him for thinking that he knew everything about how she felt, but her voice died in her throat when she realized that he was right. She had blamed herself for what had happened to Sting and her friends, and she still did. In fact, it'd never really stopped haunting her thoughts, and now, what had happened to Romeo was a part of that list, the list of things she could've prevented but didn't.
"Our Almighty has told us that we should never ignore our neighbor's pain," Precht continued, uncaring of the deep look of regret that he'd brought to the blonde's features. "So as a shepherd, how could I disregard you?"
Ultear and Jude both bowed their heads forward in deference, their voices nearly in unison as they professed, "Our wishes be fulfilled."
"You're no shepherd," Lucy forced out through her tight throat. "You're just a sick, twisted man."
Jude's focus whipped to his daughter, his voice charged, "How dare you say such a foul thing?"
Precht quirked a brow, staring at the blonde but speaking of her as if she wasn't there, "Therefore, I believe we should save our dear Lucy before it gets too late."
Her eyes widened in confusion as a surge of fear rushed through her. What the hell was he talking about?
"Finally," Zancrow chuckled in anticipation. "Lucy's going to become Spiritual Mother." He slid his gaze to the blonde, a malicious grin spreading across his lips, "Congratulations."
"Being chosen as Spiritual Mother is the greatest blessing you can receive in Zentopia," Ultear professed happily, her eyes alight with joy.
Jude bowed his head forward, clasping his hands in prayerful gratitude as he breathed out, "Thank you."
The blonde sat silently, horrified by the prospect. If Precht was referred to as Spiritual Father, she could only imagine what becoming Spiritual Mother would entail, what horrid connect it would give the preacher to her.
She shot to her feet in protest, her thoughts becoming fuzzy the longer her fear festered, "You're all insane!" Her gaze snapped to her father, "Do you really not understand what this means?!"
Jude stood, approaching her with his arms outstretched in an attempt to calm his daughter down, "Lucy-"
"Don't come any closer!" The blonde screeched, her back soon pressed against one of the display cabinets in the room. As her fingers pressed against the cool glass, a crazy idea came to mind, and without a clear head, it was only the thing she could think of doing. She shoved her elbow backwards as hard as she could, numb to the pain as hundreds of glass shards rained down on her form from behind. She ducked and scrambled for one of the largest jagged pieces, blood soon pouring down her forearm from her palm as she clutched at it, pointing it at her father and daring him to come closer.
"Lucy, stop!" Jude's eyes widened in shock, the slightest traces of fear in his features. "Put that down!"
Ultear and Zancrow were now on their feet, too, but Precht still remained quietly seated, not an ounce of panic or surprise in his expression as he watched on.
The blond apostle slowly began to approach the girl.
At his advancement, Lucy's tactic changed, knowing she couldn't take on both her father and Zancrow if they came at her simultaneously. Without an ounce of fear on her face, she pressed the shard against her own throat, her voice steady as she breathed out, "If you're going to make me do as you planned, I'm going to kill myself right now."
Ultear watched on with wide eyes, the blonde's words causing a memory that had haunted her conscience for years to resurface. The image of a girl's body floating back-up in a river appeared vividly in her mind, the girl still in her school uniform and her pink hair horribly tangled and floating lifelessly.
Recalling the memory brought all of the emotions she'd felt upon finding the Meredy's body rushing back, tears gathering in her eyes and her voice full of panic as she screeched, "No, Lucy! You won't be able to gain salvation!"
"'Salvation?'" the blonde incredulously breathed out as she looked at the group around her, "What do you even think that is?" Her voice grew louder and more hysteric, "In the end, all you're really saying is that you're perfectly fine with handing my body over to him!"
"The plans of our Almighty," Ultear began softly, her steps slowly easing her towards the girl, "are sometimes hard for us mortals to understand. But I know for sure that through our devoted faith and belief, our Almighty is trying to save us by giving us immortality."
Precht finally stood, and once more, Lucy whipped the shard outwards, pointing at the preacher as he came to stand directly in front of her, a thin line of blood trailing down her neck from where the shard had shallowly pierced her skin. Her hand trembled as blood continued to stream down her forearm, too, but she was numb to the pain.
"I'm not asking you to come to me to fulfill my worldly desires," Precht steadily surmised. "I only wish to show our Almighty your faith and devotion towards him through your union with me. Do you still not yet realize how much our Almighty and I care for you?" He caught her wrist as she swung the shard at his face, his features darkening, "Are you really so unafraid of death that you would put your own life on the line?"
Lucy wasn't afraid. She'd seen enough death to have overcome her fear of it.
"You always talk about salvation and eternal life," she ground out. "You're the one who's afraid of death."
The door to the room creaked as it was suddenly pushed open, and the blonde's eyes widened as her mother was lightly shoved into the room, Kain standing in the door frame behind the woman.
Precht's grip on her wrist tightened as he whispered scripture to the blonde, "'If you believe in my words and abide by them, you shall be allowed aboard the Ship of Salvation. However, if you do not believe in my words, and refuse to abide by them,'" He gave Lucy one last hard look before his gaze slid to Layla, resuming his recitation of holy scripture, "'I shall take away from you that one thing which you cherish the most.'"
Lucy's hand slowly fell back to her side, the shard slipping from her grasp and clattering to the floor. She couldn't do it. Not while her mother was watching.
Zancrow smirked, "My, Lucy is such a devoted daughter."
Jude rushed to grab his wife's hand, grinning proudly as if his daughter hadn't just tried to take her life right before him, "Of course. Our daughter has never once disappointed us."
"You've begun to overcome the devil within yourself, Lucy," Ultear smiled warmly as she lightly grasped the blonde's wrist, examining the bloodied cut on her palm. "I'm sure our Almighty will enlighten you one day."
Lucy stared numbly at Precht, who was still standing directly in front of her. A few stray tears slipped free of the blonde's eyes and slowly made their descent down her cheeks, the preacher smiling in victorious satisfaction as he ran his gaze over her face as if examining a fine prize.
"Gray!" the boy's name slipped through Natsu's lips before he could stop himself, and almost as if on instinct, his legs were hurriedly carrying him towards his former friend, his shoes clacking against the pavement and his footfalls echoing around the empty plaza.
The raven haired boy paused for a moment, his shoulders tensing before he started walking forward once more, though with more conviction this time.
Natsu knew that Gray could easily recognize his voice, and his rival's lack of response sent anger rushing through his veins.
Didn't Gray feel the same way he did? Didn't he want to at least try to fix things? Or was the raven haired boy completely content with letting their nearly thirteen years of friendship crumble to ruin without even attempting to salvage what had once been?
Natsu, for one, was entirely unwilling to settle for the latter, and so he shot forward, grabbing onto the raven haired boy's shoulder as he called, "Gray!"
The raven haired boy whipped around, roughly shoving Natsu's hand off of him as he ground out through clenched teeth, "Say my name one more time and I'll kill you."
The utter look of hatred on his rival's face was something he'd been unprepared for, though Natsu knew he fully deserved it. He reached out once more, a short breath puffing through his lips as he started once more, "Gray-"
Gray's fist made impact with his jaw before he could do so much as flinch out of the way, the boy hissing, "I told you not to say my name."
The salmon haired boy swiped the back of his hand over the bloodied corner of his lip, a mixture of acceptance and conviction in his gaze as he glared at his rival, "Fine. Go ahead and hit me. If it'll make you feel better, just do it."
Gray took the invitation without a second of hesitation, a wordless battle cry flying through his lips as he ran to close the distance he'd created between them with his first punch and buried his fist in the salmon haired boy's jaw again, harder than before.
Natsu's body twisted and he fell onto his hands and knees, spitting the blood from his mouth before pushing himself back up to his feet as he gave his rival a daring look, "That all you got?"
He dodged Gray's fists the next time it flew at him, ducking under his arm and upper-cutting the raven haired boy in the chin. It was Gray's turn to stumble backwards, clutching at his jaw.
He didn't have a second to recover, Natsu punching him again as the salmon haired boy taunted, "Is that really the best you can do, you bastard?! If this fight is what you really want, then I'm not holding back!"
The next time Natsu advanced, Gray shoved him away with a foot to the chest, the force of the kick sending both of the boys stumbling backwards and falling onto the concrete beneath them.
Natsu groaned as he curled in on himself, eventually mustering up the strength to push himself onto his hands and knees, huffing out heavy breaths. He'd only been punched a few times, but he supposed the emotion that was driving their fight made it more exhausting than any of their fights had ever been before. All of their previous brawls had been fought over petty occurrences, their impetus something baseless and foolish. This fight, however, had a weight to it that they'd never been subject to before. This one actually meant something for once, and to a degree, that fact terrified Natsu. These next few moments decided what would become of their friendship, and given how Gray was acting, they weren't heading in the direction that Natsu wanted them to.
"I told you not to show up in front of me ever again," Gray ground out as he painstakingly sat up, his voice slightly choked, though the salmon haired boy couldn't tell if it was from his anger or his obvious sorrow. "So why…" His head fell forward, his voice rising in volume as he roared, "why do you keep showing up like this?!"
"Because we're friends!" Natsu snapped back without a moment of hesitation.
Gray slowly lifted his head, his expression blank as he looked to the salmon haired boy.
"You fucking idiot, Gray Fullbuster," Natsu slowly brought his focus up, too, connecting their gazes, "You're my best friend. That's why."
The raven haired boy's head fell forward once more, a moment of silence passing before he hissed, "Don't come looking for me ever again."
"Why not?" Natsu questioned simply, unwilling to give up so easily. He'd waited three years for the chance to get his best friend back, and even if Gray refused him every time he came, he wouldn't stop.
"I can't stand looking at your face," the raven haired boy huffed out as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, turning his back without another word and beginning to wander away.
In a last ditch effort at getting Gray to listen to him, Natsu spoke of his other prominent concern, knowing without a doubt that it would catch the raven haired boy's interest, "I saw Lucy."
And sure enough, Gray froze in his steps.
"I think she's in danger," the salmon haired boy continued as he stood.
Gray spun back around, his eyes still cold, but his irises undeniably alight with a spark of interest.
"I saw her by chance after three years of hearing nothing about her," he huffed out, swallowing heavily as he looked to his rival, his voice heavy, "She asked me to save her."
Gray shifted on his feet, and from the far-off, untrusting look in the raven haired boy's gaze, Natsu could tell that his rival was thinking back to the last time the blonde had asked them for help, and of course, Natsu's refusal of her plea.
"This time," Natsu started firmly, his features hardened in determination as he reassured his friend, "I won't run away. I know that I hurt both of you in the past."
The raven haired boy charged towards him once more, his hands fisting in Natsu's collar with angry tears in his eyes, his lips pulled back in an angry snarl as he cocked his fist to punch the other boy once more. But at the last second, he froze.
"I won't run away this time," Natsu repeated, his gaze unflinchingly connected with his rival's. "I want to save her before its too late."
Gray's fist slowly fell back to his side at the genuine conviction in the salmon haired boy's gaze. He could tell without a doubt that Natsu meant it this time.
"So...will you help me?"
Lucy glanced over her shoulder as she sat in a stool near her mother's bed, her gaze momentarily focusing on the red cross atop the church's steeple. The hospital rested on higher ground, its elevated position allowing the blonde to see the way the cross' eerie red light bathed the treetops and made them appear as if they were on fire.
She swallowed heavily as she tore her focus away, her fingers fiddling with the new bandages on her right hand as she looked back to her sleeping mother, quietly promising, "I won't run away anymore, mom. I'll save you from this place myself. I'll save us both. I'm sure that's what Sting wants me to do."
AN
Whew...this chapter got up to 12,000 words. That's definitely the longest thus far.
Hope you're not too upset that Natsu didn't save Lucy right away. We do have quite a few more chapters after all, so obviously she wasn't gonna get out of there so soon. But still, lots happened this chapter, so I hope it was exciting nonethless. Gajeel's here now, plus we got a smidgen of Nalu, and a Gratsu reunion. Additionally, the mention of Meredy will be further explained later (she's a big part of Ultear's past).
In the next chapter we'll get a good Nalu moment :D Plus, another new character will enter the story, one that will be slightly more important to the plot than Gajeel. After that character is introduced in the next chapter, we'll really only have one more character that'll be coming in and playing a somewhat important role, and they'll show up in chapter 11. Not to spoil anything, but *cough cough* I did say we'd be getting some Jerza after all *cough cough* ;)
As always, thanks for reading and a special thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed! I've loved hearing your thoughts and it always makes me happy to see that people are enjoying my writing!
See you next Friday!