Act 4

5 left

57

The Divine Comedy

"Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice. "

― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

Lucy was jolted out of her own slumber by Natsu suddenly jerking and letting out a roar of agony.

She nearly leapt to her feet in alarm as he began twisting and writhing on the mattress, "Natsu!"

She grabbed hold of his shoulder and immediately jerked her hand away with a hiss as it was sizzling hot. What was happening? Was this a result of his dream with Zeref?

It had to be.

She didn't understand what could've caused this reaction, but there was no doubt who was responsible.

She frowned at the thought, but immediately had to scramble out of the way as Natsu flailed in his sleep again and markings very unlike his dragon scales began decorating his skin.

This could not be in any way good.

She rolled out of bed and dove for her phone lacrima, punching Gray's number frantically.

It took three rings before she heard a mumbled, "H'lo?" On the other end, and a more feminine voice in the background asking who it was.

"Gray!" She cried urgently, "I need you, Juvia, and everyone you can get at Natsu's lair right now!"

That woke the ice mage up and he frowned as he sat up in bed, already getting up, "What happened?"

He could hear the sound of Natsu's screams in the background and paused just long enough to pull on some pants and jam his feet into shoes before sprinting for the door. Whatever this was it was bad.

"I'm not sure!" Lucy replied, watching Natsu worriedly, "He was going to try and use the bond to talk to Zeref and get some answers, but something's gone wrong. He started screaming all of a sudden and now he's burning hot and black markings and things are appearing!"

Gray swore violently as he put on some speed, recognizing the description of those demonic signs, "Lucy, you have to get out of there! He's transforming into End! I'm on my way, but it'll take me a few minutes to get there! Just hang on and I'll meet you! Call the nest in the meantime! They can help you contain him until I get there!"

"Gray you don't even know where his hoard is!" Lucy protested in exasperation, and that made the demonslayer skid to a halt on the spot.

"Oh. Right. Good point."

Lucy sighed, "Happy's staying with Gajeel and Lily tonight. Something about Exceed training. He can guide you guys here. I'll call Wendy to get Carla to help."

Gray nodded despite the fact that no one else could see him and took off in a new direction, "Thanks Lucy."

But before Lucy could breathe out in relief that the guild was coming, Natsu released another deafening roar, this time jerking himself awake. His shoulders bucked up off the mattress and his fingers clenched into fists.

Steam rolled off of him in visible waves and his eyes glowed red like twin, hot coals. He twisted himself to the left and off the bed, hitting the floor with a loud, growling thud.

"Lucy," Natsu groaned, slowly staggering up to his feet.

She watched in shocked horror as his skin began to crack. A fracture snapped over his eye, across his jawline and down his neck. Spiraling tattoos, black and warning like a poisonous frog bloomed from around his shoulders. His eyes glowed a burning crimson, madness creeping within their depths.

He tugged his scarf off, the haze of steam growing into a smoke screen. But Lucy could still see him, see the sense struggling to stay true in the wave of insanity clawing at him.

"Lucy get out of here," Natsu growled, his fingers sinking forward into the mattress. Lucy watched in shock as his nails dropped into the blanket as if made from paper. His entire body tensed, muscles flexing with the effort to keep himself in place.

But as he did so, Lucy saw more cracks appearing, spider webbing out and beginning to decorate his chest like splinters. His breathing came heavier.

"Natsu, what's happening," Lucy thought better to reach out to him this time. She had learned her lesson before. Natsu's magic was volatile the best of times. As he was now?

Lucy had never seen this side of Natsu before.

She didn't even think the guild members had save a rare few.

"I'm losing control Lucy," Natsu panted, "Zeref- he's insane, but it's spreading to all demons, like an infect-!"

He cut off with another roar, hands clutching the sides of his head, eyes wild, "Lucy run!"

She gasped as he dropped to his knees, body heaving as he struggled to keep control. It was probably thanks to his strength he was able to hang on as long as he had, and Lucy gathered his scarf in her hands.

She hated leaving him like this. But alone, there was nothing she could do. Not against End.

Tears stung at her eyes and she clutched his scarf to her chest, "We're going to fix this!" She promised.

She wanted to touch him, to squeeze his shoulder or kiss his snarling mouth to assure him they would find a way. They had managed every time so far, and they would continue.

But the heat was becoming unbearable, and the coins closest to Natsu were beginning to melt down into molten gold.

Natsu didn't seem to hear her.

"I love you Natsu, just hang on," Lucy bit her lip and turned, running towards the exit.

Lucy heard him roaring behind her, and felt tears sting her eyes as she put on more speed. She hated this. She didn't want to leave him. It was the last thing she wanted to ever do. But she couldn't fight him either.

She fumbled for her phone as she ran, not willing to let go of the scarf clutched tightly against her chest. It was still the beautiful faintly gray white it had settled on after the fight, which confused her, but she was grateful for it all the same.

It comforted her that her Natsu was still in there. Somewhere. Fighting.

She brought the phone up, and tried to dial Wendy, but got Sting and Yukino instead.

"Lucy! Are you alright?" The white dragon exclaimed the moment he picked up, which puzzled her even more until she realized that the tightness in her chest was being caused by sobbing.

"Sting..." She cried, her knees nearly buckling at the sound of his voice, so like Natsu's, "I was trying to call Wendy. Natsu's in trouble. Zeref..." She shook her head, trying to organize her thoughts, "Carla knows the way to his lair."

It took Sting about three seconds to put together most of what Lucy was incoherently trying to say.

Something bad had happened to Natsu because of Zeref, and she was calling for help from near his lair.

"Don't worry." He rumbled, "Yuki will call Wendy and let her know while I get Rogue up. We'll be there as fast as we can. Just hang on with me okay?"

Lucy sniffled as she heard the sound of cloth shifting and hurried motions in the background, probably from clothes being thrown on and Yukino getting out of bed, and felt a surge of gratitude that Sting was taking charge. She wasn't thinking clearly enough to plan anything, let alone deal with Natsu now that things had gotten so much exponentially worse.

But in the sea of confusion, there was something that struck out to her. Someone who might be able to tell what could influence a dragon's mind the way Zeref was. Who had come from the darkness.

Lucy wrapped the scarf back around her neck for warmth, the soft brush of dragon scales gave off an unnatural heat which she was grateful for. Stumbling around the woods at night in a simple pajama shirt was not the most ideal of situations. She was only grateful they both had the presence of mind to get dressed in case things went south.

She had to go to Fairy Tail, but it was a long run and an even longer walk.

Lucy had never tried doing this before. Not without Natsu by her side. But she took a deep breath and lifted her hands, her mind focusing on the Fairy Tail Guild door.

Come on...

The gate burst open in sparks of golden light, and a wet, relieved smile tore across her face. She knew she could do it, but opening gates, especially when she was alone - it was always risky magic.

But this was worth it. Lucy hated to think what would happen if Natsu lost complete control and escaped from his hoard. If he got into Magnolia and started to wreck the town...

A shudder ran up her spine as she remembered Hargeon.

This could easily be a hundred times worse.

Charging through the gate without another thought, Lucy found herself inside the guild hall, the lights darkened and the place empty.

But that was fine. She was looking for someone else.

She ran down into the wine cellar, and past rows of makeshift rooms, each one branded with scripts from both Levy and Freed.

She slammed her hands against one of the doors, drawing attention from the occupant inside.

The Oracian Seis was still dangerous. But the one she was visiting remained in Fairy Tail for the time being because of his connection to the newest member of their guild. Cobra.

"Ah, yeah. I hear ya, girl," He slithered up to the door, his eye appearing in the narrow window slot.

His head tilted and he seemed to be listening, a frown burrowing between his eyebrows.

"So Natsu's lost his mind to Zeref, huh? Back to being End then I guess. Sucks to be anyone out of a cell," Cobra smirked at her.

"You know about dragons, Zeref, and Natsu!" Lucy snapped at the door, "You must know how to help him! If Natsu loses control and attacks the guild, everyone is in danger!"

It was a low blow, but Lucy's thoughts betrayed her to Cobra's magic before she even had to say a word.

"Including Kinana you mean," Cobra growled, fangs bared at the door.

His eyes flashed down to her scarf and then back up at Lucy, "Fine. You've made your point. I take it you've done some research into the subject yourself. Your thoughts are a jumble, but you think that ratty old scarf can help?"

Lucy took a deep breath, trying to calm the hysteria threatening to blossom at any moment, "The scarf was a gift to his father from the Celestial Spirit King." She explained, "It's imbued with Igneel's will. The more Natsu fell to darkness, the more he strayed from Igneel's teachings, the darker the scarf became."

She held up the end, "It's still white. That means Natsu hasn't lost himself to darkness. He's still in there. He's just lost control."

She took a step closer to Cobra, her thoughts clearing the more she talked, "The scarf is a connection to Natsu. As real as the one he has with his brother..."

"You think it can be used to save him." Cobra finished, a little reluctant admiration on his face, "Not bad. But to do what you're thinking you'll have to completely overpower the connection he's got to Zeref."

He smirked at her expression and crossed his arms, "Think of it like this. Jellal had to be beaten out of his possession. Which is basically what this is."

He pointed at the scarf, "That is an in, but that's all it is. Whatever you do you're going to have to do it so thoroughly that nothing can stick."

Lucy frowned as her thoughts began to race, and Cobra's smirk widened, "You're pretty clever when you're not hysterical." He purred, "And you're on the right track. Can't say if what you're thinking will work or not, but it's probably the best shot you'll have of reaching him."

Lucy blinked at that and eyed him for a long moment, not bothering to vocalize her thanks and a promise to get Kinana to him if everything fell apart. She could tell he heard it by the way his eyes widened and the terse way he nodded at her.

She nodded back and turned her mind back to the next step, determination lining every one of her features. She had a job to do now. A plan. And she needed to get to work.

Short chapter this time around guys, but we have fun in store for you guys really soon :D I updated later this time because I was in bed when I remembered and I couldn't BEAR to get out of bed.

In other news, you all showed up again, so here's another sneak peek!

"Containing Natsu here is the priority. We can't let him out of his hoard and into Magnolia," Erza flashed a worried look at the others.

Before anyone could respond, a new, sudden rush of heat enveloped over them, and a winged silhouette appeared at the opening of the cave.

Natsu emerged in a cloud of smoke, black, spiraling horns sprouting from rosy hair, and blackened cracks all across his body. Red scales gleamed out in struggle against the rising demon, but the snarl that emerged from him was frightening enough to make hair stand on end.

"Go away," Natsu hissed in a voice so low and garbled, its warning almost didn't make sense.