Act 4

6 left

56

A Beautiful Mind

"It was like a tornado, you want to hold on to everything you have, you don't want to let anything go."

― Sylvia Nasar, A Beautiful Mind

-::-

The next day saw them heading back to Magnolia with Lamia Scale's thanks in their ears.

The sorrow of the previous day had not faded, not yet, but it was less than what it had been and Lucy thought maybe healing was already setting in. It wouldn't be easy of course, but such things never were. Though there were a few good things to come out of this tragedy.

She smiled fondly from her perch on Natsu's warm back at the memory of Chelia and Wendy saying goodbye. The two healers had become fast friends, and she'd overheard more than one in depth talk about their respective types of sky magic.

Privately, Lucy had been astonished to learn that godslayers existed at all, and she had to wonder if Chelia would someday grow into a goddess the same way Wendy was growing into a dragon.

It was an interesting thought to say the least.

"You fallin' asleep up there Luce?" Natsu rumbled, and Lucy blinked out of her reverie.

"No. Just thinking about Wendy and Chelia."

Natsu chuckled a bit, personally quite pleased that Wendy had made a friend her own age. Chelia was a nice enough hatchling, and it was good for Wendy to have someone else to talk to about her powers.

Once Magnolia was in view he angled himself towards his lair and landed gently outside before transforming down, "I thought we could stay here tonight!" He grinned broadly at her.

Lucy felt her heart thump at the idea and smiled as she pressed close to him, "I wouldn't have a problem with that." She purred.

Natsu grunted and rolled his head on his shoulders, stretching out his neck as his scales slithered away, melting away back into his skin.

He flashed her an easy smile and threw his arm around her shoulders as they headed into his - their lair. His smile grew lighthearted and goofy at the thought of them sharing it.

And he didn't mind sharing it with Lucy. Despite his natural possessiveness and greed, he couldn't be that way around her.

Maybe it was because he considered her part of his treasure, but he wasn't going to quibble over the details.

Especially not with what he had planned for later that evening.

He headed into the hoard with Lucy and began to help her clear out some space for them. They weren't lacking for room, but it was still a mess of gold and random knickknacks he liked.

They invested themselves in the project, working diligently to get it all moving and worked out.

Soon he and Lucy managed to shift enough stuff around to reveal one of his more luxurious beds. One he had swiped as a dragon and never slept on.

Mostly because he hadn't been able to see a point behind it.

But he had wanted it, and that had been more than enough reason for him to take it.

Whining, he flopped back on the bed, sinking into the thick blankets and feeling like he was dropping through a marshmallow.

"Should I leave you two alone for a while?" Lucy teased as she returned from freshening up. Natsu's lair would certainly need some modernizing before she made this move permanent.

There was no way she was living anywhere without a fully functioning bathroom for more than a day or two outside of camping. And that was final.

Natsu rolled over enough to look at her, and felt his gut ignite with a familiar fire at the sight of her dressed in what could, charitably, be called a sheer scrap of silk.

Where had she even found that?

Not that he was complaining.

He was developing an appreciation for some of Lucy's more exotic underwear choices, and it was apparent that his love was feeling frisky their first night together like this.

"Nah." He purred with a toothy grin, and reached out to snag her wrist and pull her into bed with him.

Plan or not he was not going to ignore Lucy when she was like this.

He wrapped his arms around her and slid a hand up under her nightie, "My princess is feeling naughty is she?" He rumbled into her ear, enjoying the way she shivered when he did.

"Maybe." She smirked back, but shifted to pull him into a kiss.

However, despite his enthusiasm for their play, Natsu couldn't abandon himself to it as he usually did. His plan kept nagging at him. Mostly because he hadn't told her yet, and they'd promised no more secrets between them.

Lucy must've sensed something wrong because she pulled back with a frown, "What's wrong?"

Natsu allowed himself a moment to marvel at how well she had come to know him. She could feel the hesitation in his touch and sense the distraction in his mind. He was almost a little jealous over her insight.

Of course it was the same for him, and he could tell he was worrying her already.

He bumped his forehead against hers, his hand retreating back into safer territory, "Nothing too bad."

Lucy's eyes sharpened with immediate suspicion, and Natsu had to hide a cringe.

Perhaps he should have opened it up in a different way.

"I have a plan," Natsu mumbled, looking away evasively, "I want to... talk to Zeref."

Lucy sat straight up at that, a scandalized look on her face and Natsu felt like sinking into the pillows over how horrified she looked.

"You want to do what?" She exclaimed, "Talk to Zeref? As in your brother? The very one that just caused an entire race of demons to turn to ash?"

Natsu looked around, wondering if this was a trick question, "Yes?"

He didn't flinch away as Lucy's hands came around to grab the sides of his head. Part of him was surprised. When had he stopped twisting away from her? He couldn't even remember.

Still, the way she was gripping his head now made him think she was about to give him a firm shake.

"You've been getting more headaches Natsu," Lucy said firmly and looked at him, "I know you haven't said anything because the timing hasn't been right, but something is starting to affect you too and I'm afraid it's him."

Natsu looked at her, setting his hand over her cooler one, enjoying the feel of her delicate fingers under his, "But Luce..."

"Please Natsu, if you open up yourself to Zeref, then who knows what could happen," Lucy murmured.

Natsu frowned, his jaw clenching stubbornly as he looked up at her, "But Zeref already has full access into my head. It's not like I can do anything different."

"Yeah, but your connection to him is like a raw spot." Lucy argued worriedly, "What if you poke at it and whatever it is that he did to the Galuna demons happens to you because you can't filter it?"

Natsu didn't want to admit it, but she kind of had a point. Still...

"This may be our best way of finding out what's going on though." He cupped her face tenderly, "Maybe it's risky, but it may be riskier to not try."

He shook his head, "Zeref's not acting normal. I don't know why, but he'd never have pulled a stunt like this before." He growled softly, "Bastard's always been real careful. Plans inside of plans and stuff."

"And this could be a plan within those plans." Lucy replied, "Maybe he wanted you to think that and go to him in your dreams to open you up to something."

Natsu honestly doubted it. His brother's plans were never this wild and plain random. Zeref was more than happy to leave his creations to wreak havoc as they saw fit, but when he was at the helm there was very little he didn't plan for and less that surprised him.

However, he couldn't blame Lucy for thinking what she did.

She didn't really know Zeref outside of stories and her one encounter with him so far. He could understand why she thought the way she did.

That didn't make it right though.

He hesitated, a hand pressing into her shoulderblade as he looked into her worried eyes, "In the last war, Zeref's plans were precise."

"This one had no end goal, no purpose. It was random and loose. And the Galuna Island demons burned themselves out. If he had wanted to cause us real damage, he wouldn't have even used them. They went mad because of the power pushed on them and it ultimately destroyed them with minimal casualties," Natsu moved his hands up to her cheeks.

"I have to find out what he's up to. Because what if something happens here next?" Natsu's eyes dragged onto Lucy.

"I can't ignore it Lucy," Natsu apologized, sliding his hand away from her.

Her eyes were dark with worry, and her brow was furrowing, leaving a cute line between them as she bit her bottom lip.

She seemed to struggle with herself, hurt, anger and worry all warring on her face. Natsu hated to see her conflicted. Because in truth, he was too.

"Then you have to do it," Lucy said after a long moment. Her fingers tugged into his rosy hair, nails scratching along his scalp.

"But if you fall into the rabbit hole, you better believe I'm going to drag you back through the looking glass," Lucy growled.

Natsu shook his head, an oblivious smile, small and happy tugging at his lips, "I have no idea what that means."

Lucy sighed and kissed him, sliding back down beside Natsu.

"I'll have to add a few books to your collection here. I'm sure you'll like that one in particular," Lucy smiled, thinking back to the strange similarities her story had to Alice's.

"I'd like that," Natsu grinned back.

Lucy giggled a little and leaned over to nip gently at his ear, "There's a lot of books from my world I'm sure you'd like." She purred and crawled on top of him.

"Love me Natsu." She murmured, somehow both hungry and serious looking at the same time, "Please? If you're going to face him tonight then I want you doing so with just how much I love you fresh on your mind."

Natsu smiled lovingly up at her, and pulled her into a lingering kiss, one hand tangling in her hair while the other slid back under her nightie, "Gladly Luce." He growled huskily.

He knew there was no more room for Zeref to manipulate him against Lucy, but he liked the idea of facing his brother still hot from the afterglow of making love to her.

He growled softly and rolled her onto her back as he descended on her, firmly putting Zeref out of his mind for the moment. Lucy was all that mattered, and he was more than eager to make her forget her worry as well.

-::-

Much later, as they both curled around each other happy and exhausted, Natsu managed to pull himself from the pleasant buzzing in his body enough to remember he was trying to direct his dreams tonight.

He closed his eyes and felt around for the bond that connected him to his brother hoping that poking at it would produce the result he wanted. If it didn't... well... he would try to figure that out when it happened.

There was no 'bond' to magically feel. Or, if there was, Natsu didn't know how to access it. He sighed, blowing a puff of air up and moving his bangs out of his face. They had flopped down during his activities with Lucy and were obscuring his vision.

He growled in frustration and curled his body to the right, tugging Lucy towards him. Whatever bond he had with Zeref, it wasn't something he could pick up on.

Maybe it was because Natsu spent his entire existence pushing out against even being near Zeref.

Oh the irony.

Lucy was resting quietly against his shoulder, and he rolled on his side to tuck her head under his chin.

Maybe one of the other guild members would have an idea on what to do he thought sleepily.

His eyes closed and breathing deepened as slowly his thoughts drifted off and he fell asleep.

When he next opened his eyes, he found himself standing in Mavis' library again. But this time, the walls were on fire.

Natsu whipped around, his eyes wide as he looked at the state of the library and trying to figure out where he was.

Had it worked?

Was this the bond?

No...

Natsu looked around the flaming shelves without fear of the heat.

The last time he was there, the books and shelves were orderly and neat. Not a page out of place. But now...

Natsu spotted Zeref sitting in a chair, his back towards him, and seemingly oblivious to the flames.

Could it be that this was a peek into Zeref's mind?

Natsu never had much care for Mavis' library...

But his brother had been in love with her.

"Zeref..?" He called out, wary despite his immunity to fire.

"Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if we'd taken different directions Natsu?" Zeref replied without turning around, "The paths untrod, and the joys and sorrows unseen and unfelt?"

Natsu blinked at that, uncertain how to respond. His brother had an annoying habit of either speaking in nothing but riddles or plainly saying what was on his mind, but philosophy wasn't talked about much unless they were shouting it across a battlefield or Zeref was being particularly cryptic.

This... didn't quite sound like that though.

They seemed to be honest questions. The kind he would expect to hear from Jellal or Lucy when they discussed philosophy.

And for some reason hearing them from Zeref unnerved him.

Zeref stood up and turned to look at him, and his breath caught. His eyes were red. It was the look he tended to reserve for when he was his most angry, but there was a weird glint in them he didn't remember from before.

It kind of reminded him of that stupid fire godslayer wannabe...

However, the thought stopped in its tracks as Zeref paced slowly towards him, "I've wondered such for quite a long time." He murmured, "What would have happened if you hadn't turned on me? If we had been able to be a family? If I hadn't fallen through that gate?"

He glanced at the various fires, unperturbed by the burning around them, "Tendrils of my power." He commented, reaching out to have one curl around his hand like a pet snake, "It devours and consumes and rages through me."

A smile that honestly creeped Natsu out curled his lips, "It is intoxicating." He breathed out as if in reverence, "So long without my power and now it overflows within me!"

Natsu held his ground, watching the flames lick against Zeref's skin, a path of scorching blisters bubbling on his wrist. Natsu's eyes widened, but Zeref didn't seem to care.

Of course the angry welts disappeared moments later, but the simple sign of their appearance at first unnerved him.

Zeref had always played fast and loose with insanity before, but it seemed his brother's tenuous hold on his sanity had finally slipped. Whether it was because of his newly returned magic, rushing through his senses, or even the centuries spent isolated as the only one, seemingly immortal in a world without magic - he didn't know.

"If you hadn't tried to take me from Igneel, none of this would have ever happened," Natsu snapped at him, unfazed by the frightening sharpness in his brother's eyes, "You gave me to him to help me control my magic. To raise me."

He frowned, "So thank you for that at least. Because you did that, I had a father."

"But you're not my family. I didn't betray you. You're the one who attacked, you're the one who hurt Igneel, and you deserved to fall into the pits of hell itself instead of just falling into another world," Natsu growled, "Fairy Tail is my family. My nest is my family. Lucy is my family."

"There's no room for you in it!" Natsu snarled harshly, distantly aware he was supposed to be finding out what his brother's plans were, but he was just so damn angry.

A flicker of darkness seemed to glow in Zeref's eyes, his brows crinkling in sadness.

"You did not come for me?" Zeref asked.

Natsu snorted and dropped his hands on his waist, "Why the hell would you think I'd ever come to you? I want to know what happened to the Galuna Island demons. What did you do to them?"

But Zeref didn't seem to hear him. Instead he turned away, pacing back towards a bookshelf and shaking his head, "No. No I was convinced. You would come to me and we would be a family again."

Frustrated, Natsu growled at Zeref's back.

"Hey jackass, didn't you hear me? I said we ain't a family! It didn't happen in the past, and it ain't gonna happen now!" He snarled, advancing towards the pacing Zeref.

He grabbed Zeref's shoulder and whipped him around, "Now what did you do to the Galuna tribe? Why did you attack Hargeon?"

Zeref frowned at his belligerent brother, his mind still churning over the angry words being spoken. Why was Natsu not here for him? Didn't he see they were family? That he only wanted them to be together as they'd always been and should've always been.

Igneel had been... a necessity. He'd been incapable of teaching his precious little brother how to control the flames he'd gifted him with in his rebirth. Once that had been accomplished he'd no longer been of any use.

Why did Natsu not see that?

It made no sense.

Igneel was not family any more than the girl Lucy was.

Both were pleasurable in their own way he supposed. Particularly Lucy. However, that had nothing on their brother bond.

He scowled a little. It seemed he would have to force his brother to see again. As Lucy no longer held any secrets against Natsu with which to drive them apart he would simply have to take her from him.

He looked into his brother's eyes, decisions made, ignoring the way the fires around them intensified.

"I did not attack Hargeon." He replied evenly, calmly, "I have no use for it, nor any need to destroy it. I could care less about it or Galuna."

Yes. He would take Lucy and force his brother to see the truth.

Perhaps if Natsu behaved himself he would even give her back from time to time.

Natsu's fingers flexed in irritation, but even he could began to feel the heat rolling off the walls. A bead of sweat slid down the back of his neck and he growled.

"You're telling me that the demons in Hargeon went insane for no reason? They were saturated with your magic!" Natsu shouted back at the red-eyed wizard.

And then what he said registered.

Natsu's mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide, horror descending on him as he took in his surroundings again with fresh eyes.

"They didn't go insane because you wanted them to," Natsu murmured, "They went insane because you did."

Zeref's magic was burning this room, his mind, apart. Fire was everywhere, encroaching in around them and licking at the support beams.

"Perhaps," Zeref allowed, not seeming interested.

But Natsu was, and the implications of what was happening was terrifying. The weakest of Zeref's demons had been affected by their creator's own madness. The leaking of his power dripping into their minds like an infection. A terminal disease that spread from one demon to the next.

Natsu was a strong demon, but that didn't change the fact that he was one. The weakest demons would be affected first as the disease slowly climbed each rung up.

Until they reached Natsu.

All he had was time.

Fire, scorching flames unlike what Natsu had felt before lapped at his heel and Natsu flinched as his skin burned. He hissed in sharp shock, wrenching his leg away. Zeref's magic was creeping up on him, and he felt a little sick over how right Lucy had been.

Because, while it was true he would have been last to be affected had this gone on as normal, Natsu had jumped straight into the proverbial - and literal, fire.

-::-

Wow! So many of you people dropped by to review! I really appreciate the sudden surge! I had a really awful day so seeing you all really brightened my spirits! A few of you mentioned some reasons why you don't review, so I will address them here real quick:

"Saying 'I love this fic' can get repetitive": Our answer is - We are needy crybaby authors and need constant reassurance. It's definitely not repetitive to us. (Okay, Kytrin is pretty rational, but Mslead is a definite flailer.)

"I didn't have time to review!": ...So... you guys want... more time between updates? This confuses me, because this is literally the only way we can give you more time? (considering the outcry we got when I suggested changing the update schedule earlier in the fic, I'm guessing you don't want this.)

"We don't get a response!": ...:C I'm sorry. We read every single tag and review we get for this fic! We really do, and we stare at them for hours even if we can't respond! We appreciate every single one of you!

Kytrin and I have written about a hundred stories spanning all kinds of fandoms. Parallels is our first time sharing the stories we came up with! We would love to share more fics with you guys! Our next fic is called Mythos.

As such, since you all swarmed us with love and affection, you'll be getting your sneak peek from Mythos today!

-::-

Natsu sat bolt upright in his bed, a pain filled roar swelling in his chest and tears streaming down his face. He opened his mouth, but only a brief shout came out before the confusion between his dreams and reality slammed into him.

He panted softly, belatedly aware he was drenched in sweat, and scrubbed at his eyes as he tried to figure out what was going on.

It had been so vivid.

He could feel the grief constricting his throat, and the need to scream and rage at the injustice of losing his father just when they'd found each other again still clawing at him. It was only through sheer willpower that he swallowed it back down.

But he wasn't on a battlefield.

He was in his room, sitting in bed.

The contradiction was enough to disorient him completely until a pair of slim arms curled around him.

"Natsu?"

He relaxed almost immediately under that touch and felt a smile tugging at his lips despite the confusing and conflicting emotions tearing through him.

"Hey Luce." He murmured and shifted around to look at her, "Sorry for waking you."