Happy was so worried about Natsu that he didn't complain once about Lucy's weight as he carried her. They managed to fly back to the dragon's camp in less than an hour. As they approached, they saw the mountain that Carla had described in her vision and sure enough, there was a dragon on top of it.
Lucy's heart sank. She could tell instantly that it wasn't an ordinary dragon. The dragon was black with red swirls along its body which looked like tribal markings. His body shape still had some semblance to a human's—he had a flat nose and muscular arms that sat a bit higher on the body than other dragons. This was a Dragon King.
"It that—" started Happy.
"Yes," she interrupted. "That's Natsu. They must have found some way to turn him into a Dragon King." Somehow, Lucy just knew this statement to be true. She thought back to the stories that Zeref had told her. To create a Dragon King, they needed Brotan's necklace, a dragon slayer to cast the spell, a dragon slayer to become a dragon, and the blood of a hundred dragons. They had everything except the blood of a hundred dragons. Had the dragons sacrificed themselves to create an ultimate weapon? One that would rival Acnologia in strength?
"Happy, you need to get me up there."
The Exceed didn't say anything but changed course for the mountain top.
The dragon's large head turned towards them as they approached. Lucy was terrified that Natsu would attack but the dragon didn't show any aggression. Zeref and five other people were on the ground below them. Happy circled once, perhaps to make sure no one was going to try to kill them, and then landed.
Zeref ran up to her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he said angrily.
"Carla had a vision of another dragon fighting Acnologia. What the hell are you planning? You said you wouldn't try to kill Acnologia."
He grabbed a fistful of his hair. "I'm not, Natsu will."
She turned up towards the giant beast and yelled. "Natsu, what are you doing, this is crazy?"
He turned away from her and remained silent.
She turned back to Zeref, furious. "So this is the Queen's great plan? Create a new Dragon King to kill Acnologia? How did you get the blood of a hundred dragons?"
"Each dragon merely donated a couple drops of blood. I had always assumed that dragons had to be killed for their blood to work in the transformation spell but I was wrong. Apparently the Queen has known this for centuries but never told me. That's why she held the tournament—to test Natsu and see if he was strong enough to become a Dragon King. Now that she has her guinea pig, she has finally decided to enlighten me."
She stared at him in disbelief. Another more disturbing thought occurred to her.
"This means that your and Natsu's lives are now linked?"
He remained silent.
"And your lives are linked to Acnologia's? Is this a suicide mission? Will Natsu fight Acnologia to the death? You will all die, regardless of the winner." As she spoke, hysteria crept into her voice until she was practically screaming the last sentence.
He grabbed her arms and gave her a small shake. "We are hoping it doesn't come to that. We're hoping that we can defeat Acnologia and he will return to his human form. Perhaps then I can reason with him."
"But if you can't defeat him—".
She turned towards Natsu again. "How could you keep this from me? We're partners."
Natsu's back was towards her and his ears were lowered. He looked like a puppy that had just eaten his master's shoes.
She looked around at the other people on the mountain top. She didn't recognize any of them. "Who are they?" she asked.
"These are my strongest demons. We're hoping that they will give us the edge in battle."
She laughed. "You'll need it. Acnologia has been a dragon for 400 years. Does Natsu even know how to fly?"
Zeref winced. Apparently she had hit a nerve. "We've been practicing all morning," he admitted. "He's getting close."
He changed the topic. "You really shouldn't be here. The instant we transformed Natsu, Acnologia knew that we had summoned the First. He is undoubtedly on his way." He put something in her hand. "Here, I wanted you to have this in case something goes wrong. I was going to have one of my demons deliver it to you but I guess that won't be necessary."
She looked down. It was Brotan's necklace.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.
Zeref shrugged. "I don't know. If we fail, maybe you can think up a better plan."
Her jaw dropped. The urge to smack him upside the head was overwhelming.
The demons all turned—a dragon was flying towards them. Lucy's heart just about leapt out of her chest. As the dragon got closer, she realized it was only Igneel.
"Oh thank God," she whispered.
Igneel landed and approached Natsu. "What's she doing here? I gave you specific instructions that she was supposed to be far away from here."
"What do you mean?" asked Zeref.
Igneel turned towards Lucy. "You need to leave now."
"Don't lecture me. You're standing here, allowing your two sons to go on a suicide mission. What kind of father are you?"
Igneel stomped his foot, clearly agitated. "You don't know what you're talking about. I would sacrifice everything for my sons!" He extended his wings and puffed out his chest.
"Then why are they here today?" she asked.
Igneel lowered his head. "They are not entering this fight with no hope of winning although that is what would have happened if the Queen had her way. I was able to secure a new future right before we were cast into the realm of suspended animation."
"What are you talking about?" asked Zeref.
"Didn't you ever wonder what happened to this eye?" He brought a claw up to the old wound. "When the Queen asked me to start training a new dragon slayer, I knew that she was planning to kill Aaron. I couldn't let her do that so I went on a mission to change the future—I found one of the fates."
Zeref gasped.
Igneel continued. "The fates are blind but they are able to see when they touch a dragon's eye, so I gave them my left eye in exchange for a future where all of my sons could live."
A slow smile spread across Zeref's face. "That's brilliant! Our victory is nearly guaranteed."
"Don't get too cocky. The Fates have merely shifted things in our favor. But, my eye wasn't the only price to be paid. The Fates told me that the woman my son loved would suffer a great burden in his place—and now we've practically served her up to Acnologia on a silver platter."
"But Natsu doesn't love me," said Lucy.
"Damn, I knew there had to be a reason." Zeref looked at Lucy. "Natsu lied—he was trying to protect you. You need to get out of here now!"
Igneel nodded in agreement. "I didn't want Natsu to inflict harm to someone unwittingly. When he was a child, I warned him that someday he would hurt the woman he loved. Diamente cast hr spell before I had the chance to explain things further. When I saw Natsu and you together, I instantly knew you were in danger so I gave Natsu more details about my deal with the Fates the first day I met you. I made him promise me that he wouldn't get involved with you romantically."
Zeref marched over to Natsu and kicked him in the foot. The dragon growled but didn't turn around. "It didn't work you idiot. Just because you tell someone you don't love them, doesn't make it true."
"I should have known that it would be impossible to change fate," said Igneel.
Lucy looked up at Natsu. He was still wouldn't look at her.
Zeref turned towards his demons. "Mard Geer, come here."
A man with long black hair and an aristocratic air approached. "Yes Master."
"You are to take Lucy far away from here and protect her with your life."
"Yes Master." The demon stretched his arms and began to change form. Wings and horns appeared, making him look like a devil. He put his arms around Lucy.
"Wait," she screamed. "Natsu, please talk to me. I might never see you again."
Slowly, the dragon turned around. Large tears that could have filled a bathtub were dribbling down his face.
"Oh God Natsu—why couldn't you have been honest with me? What if I don't get the chance to ever see you again?"
The light surrounding the dragon began to shimmer and a moment later, her old friend was standing in front of her. Lucy wiggled out of Mard Geer's grip and ran into Natsu's outstretched arms.
They kissed.
It was the most deep and passionate kiss that she had ever experienced. With each passing moment, Natsu pulled her closer until she was nearly breathless. In that moment, they were joined together—soul mates.
Eventually Natsu pulled away. It felt like torture. She wanted him to hold her and to tell her everything was going to be okay. They had just found each other. Didn't they deserve some time together?
"I'm sorry," he said. His voice wavered.
"I love you," she said.
He took her hands and held them to his heart. "I love you too. If we survive this, we'll be together, I promise."
Lucy wiped a tear away. She hadn't realized she'd been crying.
"Okay. I'll be waiting for you then." She took a step back and another set of arms, black and cold wrapped around her waist. Instantly she was lifted off the ground and flying away.
Please be safe Natsu. Please survive this.