Movement helped keep Lucy's throat from totally closing. Her whole body felt like it was on fire; her lungs burned with every breath. She needed to see Zeref. Needed to. Her fingers twitched around her keys. Loke would be so easy to call. Maybe he'd make her feel better. Maybe she could tear him up and that would alleviate some of her stress. Even as she thought it she knew it wouldn't be enough.

She kept walking, moving up a huge treed hill. At its climax, Lucy came to a stop and looked down the opposite side. A town looked back at her. Houses with slumping porches and broken windows dominated the landscape, their warped doors squealing in a gentle breeze. Moss and plants and even trees grew through collapsed roofs while walkways were split in two with vines creeping from shadowy crevices. There was a road running through the center of town, but it was overgrown like everything else, choked out by weeds. Down the hill a ways was an old wooden sign that hung crooked on two poles hammered deep into the earth. Pi-er's H-ld it read, the P and the O so badly worn they were nearly non-existent.

She'd made it. The relief was very, very real.

The first step she took towards the rotting town had shivers rolling over her skin and the breath catching in her lungs. The air was thick and heavy, seeping and dripping with his power; this place was his. And what did that mean?

She didn't know, but she was all too happy to rush in and be near Zeref.

"Lucy," said a voice at her back, halting her movements before she could get started. Stiffening, she turned, skin beating with excitement.

"Natsu," she breathed his name because she couldn't force the sound out loudly. He had changed further, fallen a little deeper. His eyes were shadowed in the early morning light, making him look frenzied. He was perfect, his hair wild, his eyes burning her up, fingers clenching and unclenching with nervous energy or

violence

even the smear of dirt over his right cheek looked like it was exactly in place, a testament to his disorder. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to come," he said grudgingly, though he was secretly glad that he had. He could smell her from where he stood, rich and changed, heady and alluring and…

He realized how badly that blonde from earlier would have taken her place. She would have offered a distraction only until Natsu burned her out and left her for dead, then he would have been right back to pining. "He—he said you would need me." Natsu stuffed his hands into his pockets and squeezed his fingers to keep from touching her.

"Zeref said that?" At the mention of his name, Natsu shivered. Lucy took a step closer to him, unable to help herself. "Yes?"

Natsu flicked his eyes away and nodded. It was easier to be near her if he didn't look at her directly. That was good in theory, yet his eyes kept getting drawn back.

Lucy came closer still, fingers reaching for his wrist. Natsu looked at her guardedly; it hurt to see him like that, uncertain and wary. "He was right. I always need you." Before she made her deal with Zeref but especially after.

Always. Somehow Natsu was looking at her face again, getting lost in her eyes. He could almost see the girl she had been.

"What are you thinking?" Lucy asked.

"That I don't want to be here," he lied. More than anything he wanted to see what perdition would befall Lucy Heartfilia. She deserved this.

Lucy didn't flinch. "Then why are you?"

"Zeref asked," Natsu said. Told me. He was still too proud to admit that aloud.

"You hate me," Lucy stated and waited for him to dismiss her accusation. He only nodded. She blinked an unwelcomed tear from her eye.

Seeing that made Natsu's heart wrench. "Lucy—" I hate you but I love you too, he thought.

She looked at him expectantly.

He didn't know how to say it. Before he could figure it out, she released his wrist and turned away, determined to go see what the dark mage wanted of her. "It's alright."

"Wait." Natsu grabbed her hand to keep her there and pulled her back. They were standing too close together but he couldn't bring himself to put any room between them. The only relief was to pull her nearer, feeling her body pressed against his; the contact had electricity shooting through all of his nerve endings.

"Release me, Natsu."

Natsu swallowed nervously. "No. If you go in there, everything will change—everything will be different." He felt her slipping away faster than he could have guessed; the worst part was that she seemed to do it happily and some twisted part of him wanted it of her.

"Everything has already changed," Lucy replied. She dared to meet the eyes of her long-time friend and love. "I never meant to hurt you; I never meant for anyone to ever suffer. I tried to save you all."

There was a little more of the old Lucy Heartfilia. Natsu took it all in, the beast that lived in his heart drinking her down greedily. He would take everything from her if she would let him. "You did save us," he said finally. "The guild is back to normal, the world is healing."

"Gray—"

But Natsu didn't want to hear about Gray. Passing through her camp earlier that morning he had seen the state Lucy had left his old friend in and didn't want to hear why or how that had happened. He touched a finger to her lips to keep her quiet. Lucy silenced. "Do you regret what you did?"

"Which part?" she asked. Her lips tickled his skin. He wanted to kiss her right then, but he denied himself that pleasure; he was still furious with her and with himself.

"Saving the world," he said concisely, trying to focus. Her answer was important.

"No. If I hadn't, I never would have had you, or Zeref or Loke."

Natsu's chest squeezed with what he could only call jealousy. He hated Zeref for doing this to him—to her, though there was a deep dark part that lived in his heart that loved it, too. This new Lucy called to him and teased him in a way that he couldn't ignore. This new Lucy could teach him what it was to be not Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's fire dragon slayer, but Zeref's strongest demon, END. Maybe there was no going back, so there was no reason to feel guilty. "Did he tell you what the cost was going to be? When you took his magic?"

"He warned me," she admitted. "But I don't think he really knew what would happen. Now I'm—I'm tearing us all down."

Natsu squeezed her wrist hard. "You knew. How could you have just gone through with it anyway, Lucy? What were you thinking? I would have been there—I would have—"

"Done it all yourself? Are you upset because I'm dying, or because you didn't get your chance to save everyone?" Lucy said sharply.

Dying. It took his breath away, imagining Lucy lifeless. "You know that's not—"

She cut in. "Besides, it didn't seem like such a bad thing with him standing so close to me. I wanted this. Don't think otherwise." She looked at him from under her lashes to see how he took her words. Better than she had hoped, he only flinched back a little. She felt a thread of power pull her towards the town and knew she had to go; it was an urgent and insistent tugging that couldn't be buried or pushed aside. She touched a hand to Natsu's cheek and apologized. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I couldn't love only you."

Natsu's intense expression eased into one that was difficult to read. "Lucy…" He leaned his forehead against hers and touched the small of her back, using that to pull her closer. All the while he wondered why she had such an effect on him.

"Yes?" She needed to pull away now, that magic was burning a hole through her centre, but Natsu kept her firmly where she was with just that light touch.

Do you really love me? "Am I always going to feel this way about you?"

Her heart thundered. "Which way?" Maybe she had time for this.

"Conflicted," he replied diffidently. "I can't stop thinking about you, I hate you and I…"

Lucy smiled; she didn't need him to say it to know it was true. "We would both be better together."

Don't you want to be there when she burns out and fades away? Zeref's words haunted him. "If you go into that town, I don't know if there's going to be an after."

Lucy looked out of the corner of her eye towards the abandoned city centre and said truthfully, "I don't know if that matters."

She sounded so… lackadaisical. Natsu endeavored to make her understand. "Lucy, Zeref said you were going to—"

"Die?" Her heart pattered faster. You knew… Yes. She knew this was coming. "If it makes me feel better, I don't care."

Swallowing around the hotness in his throat, Natsu tried again. "Lucy—"

Lucy couldn't hear what he had to say. To quiet him she pressed her lips against his. His response was slow, but he did respond, moving his mouth in time with hers. "It's okay," Lucy said when she pulled away.

Natsu had a stunned look on his face as if he hadn't quite been prepared for the sensation her mouth left behind. Truthfully, Lucy was reeling, too. He had always had a powerful effect on her, but now kissing him was like standing in an inferno of everything she wanted. Too much. Her skin was ablaze.

"I…" Natsu shook his head to clear it.

"I have to go," Lucy said before he could say or do anything else to distract her; that throbbing blackness was stretching through her again, only more agitated now that she had kissed him. She slipped out of his grasp and turned towards Piper's Hold.

"Wait," Natsu called her. 'Don't you want to be there when she burns out and fades away? She's going to need you.'

When Lucy didn't stop he jogged to catch up. She walked with purpose as if she had been there before, when in truth she was only following the thread of magic that pulled and guided her along. Natsu slid in front of her and tried to stop her with two hands on her shoulders.

"Lucy, wait."

"I can't," she said truthfully. "I have to go, he's calling me."

Natsu felt it, too. "Please, you don't know what's in there."

"It doesn't matter what's there and what's not. I'm burning up." She could feel it, had felt it for days. She was rushing to die, just like her mother; it had taken longer for the magic to eat through her body, perhaps because she had spent some time with Zeref, but now the fire had caught; it was joyfully tearing through her like she was dry tinder.

Lucy wriggled out of his grasp and started walking again. Natsu, not seeing another way, fell into step beside her, just as Zeref wanted. He couldn't look away from her for long. Her skin was shifting agitatedly again, her eyes two burning pits of black; her fingers clenched and unclenched so hard that her knuckles turned white. He slipped his hand into hers and let her squeeze until it hurt. On contact, there was a passage of magic from her to him, like a small bolt of electricity; his body ate it and his heart hammered harder. He wished she could stay like this forever, he would feed off of her agitation and power and wouldn't feel the least bit sorry for it. What a monster he had become. The knowledge didn't make him pull away, in fact, he swallowed more greedily, taking even what she didn't offer, until she looked wan but pleased, as if it felt as good for her as it did for him. His body hardened and he did his best to feel ashamed. Shouldn't he be more frantic knowing that his best friend was walking to her death? There was only peace in his heart, though.

Maybe it hasn't sunken in yet. That wasn't it, though. He fully grasped the situation they were in, he just… wanted to be near her so much he didn't care. He wanted to obey Zeref so badly he couldn't think about anything else. Master. The thought made him sick even whilst a calmness befell him.

As if sensing his plight, Lucy looked over and smiled. "You'll feel better soon, too." She didn't know how she knew it, but she did.

"I hope so." He couldn't stand feeling torn like this any longer.

The houses dwindled, then disappeared and were replaced by a tall rock wall. In the shadiest corner a hole was cut into the earth. A mineshaft. No sunlight reached past its gaping maw, inside was an inky black pit. Natsu's stomach clenched nervously; Lucy looked determined but not so indifferent to the power that bled from the shadows; her eyes were bright and her breathing harried, her palms suddenly damp.

"Gods," she breathed and Natsu knew how she felt. It was like being torn apart, standing in all that encompassing magic, but also like coming home, like he belonged. In that moment he knew with certainty that this was his place, and it could be Lucy's too, if she wanted it, if she was strong enough. If he let it. Zeref's intent, his plan, became clear.

You could kill her now and this won't have to happen, Natsu thought. You can keep Zeref from having her.

Lucy tried to keep moving forward but Natsu grabbed her hand and held her still, even when she struggled.

"Natsu—" His name came out sounding pained. "Natsu, let go, I have to go." She twisted her wrist to no avail. "I have to be inside. Natsu—"

Just do it, Natsu convinced himself. You can burn her up right here and she won't have to go on like this. She probably wouldn't even feel anything. You don't have to feel guilty because she won't see it coming. Magic pooled in his hand, the flames just below his skin. He knew the fire that was about to come was going to be powerful, it was fueled with what he had stolen from Lucy on their way there and from the strange particles that filled the air. No, she wouldn't even know that he was about to betray her.

Except she did. She turned her dark eyes on him, body half in and half out of the mine shaft, and asked, "Are you going to kill me?" Her voice warbled with want and need and he knew he wouldn't. He kissed her instead, thinking that maybe this would be the last time he would ever get the chance. Lucy kissed him back for a long stretching second, then squeezed his fingers in hers and pulled away.

"Are you scared?" Natsu asked, panting.

She thought maybe for the first time in days she was. "Are you going to come with me?" she dodged; she didn't want to think about fear.

Natsu swallowed and nodded once, disgusted and excited. He came to her side and let her lead him downwards. Zeref was right, someone had to witness the end of Lucy Heartfilia.

When the light was completely blocked out, Natsu called a ball of flame into being and set it looming before them to light their way. It bobbed and pulsed, his magic still uncertain, throwing the tunnel into shadowed relief. They walked until their ears popped and then further still. The air temperature dropped, moisture puddled on the ground, and the place stank of mildew. They walked until Piper's Hold was kilometers above them and the only thing that lived and breathed down there was a girl-not-quite-demon and a demon in sheep's clothes.

At a junction in the tunnels Lucy turned right. Her feet stumbled over the uneven ground. Natsu caught her arm to keep her from falling; her skin was far too cold, or maybe his was far too hot—he couldn't tell which. Either way, both of them hissed but neither made a move to separate.

The shaft suddenly ended in a small oval area. Natsu's fire revealed three things: a stand in the center of the rock-lined room, a book sitting upon it, and a pen upon that. He swallowed down a bubble of nervousness that tried to fight its way out of his chest in the form of a laugh. A memory from long, long ago flitted through his mind. Crimson blood, pain, light, fear. That was it, just impressions. Who knew if it was true or not?

Lucy walked to the book confidently and fingered its damp pages.

A heavy weight landed on Natsu's chest. "Lucy…" He was back to being reticent. "Lucy, I don't think you should be touching that." 'I'm too close to this. I want it too much.'

Lucy looked up and met Natsu's eyes then grabbed the pen in her hand, her motions both defiant and automatic.

"Lucy," Natsu barked with more force. "Don't. It's going to—"

Lucy didn't need him to explain. "I'm already dying."

"This could kill you more," he fought back.

"Kill me more? Really?" She smirked and for a moment they were best friends again, not strangers that only wanted to hurt and fight and need.

"You know what I mean. Faster. What if there's a way…"

"Don't be afraid. This was the way it was always going to play out." The very first time Zeref spoke her name, Lucy knew she was done for.

"I don't want to lose you, not to this," Natsu said.

"You won't lose me," Lucy replied.

"You'll be his."

"I am already." Her words sliced through him.

No. Feeling vindictive, Natsu said, "I'd rather you be dead."

Lucy pressed her lips together. "Then do what you were thinking of earlier. Kill me."

Natsu took a step towards her, flames somehow lapping at his fingers. She stayed perfectly still, waiting for him to close the distance between them. Natsu dragged in a breath, then stalked with purpose and made it all the way to the toes of her booted feet. He grabbed her arm, the flames chewing through the first layer of her skin.

Lucy didn't drop his gaze. "You can't do it."

"I—"

"Love me too much," Lucy said. She met his eyes steadily and dug her fingers into the metal pen. Two sharp blades slipped out of its body and sliced into her skin. She hissed but didn't let go. Blood welled to the surface and dripped down to touch the silver ball, ruby bright and glittering in the firelight.

Natsu gathered fire in his hand. He could see how it would be, he would command the flames to encompass her and then burn her until there was nothing left, not even ash, then he would shamble out of the mine shaft alone and go through the motions, covering up what happened here today—going back to Fairy Tail and pretending he wasn't Zeref's strongest demon, pretending that he didn't love Lucy and that he hadn't shared her with the darkest wizard to ever live and then killed her, pretending that he wasn't a monster and that he didn't want to do monstrous things.

The dragon-slayer turned demon tried to make one last stand against his arising nature. "He's tricking you. Forcing you into this." He had to be. 'I want her too much. I—I think I love her.' He hated that Zeref seemed so human then.

"I know what I am and what I want to be, Natsu," Lucy said pacifyingly. "I want to be Zeref's, and you can't change that. Either you stop me by force, or you watch."

To Lucy, Natsu seemed paralyzed. She wasn't. She touched the blank page with the tip of the pen and started to write, 'Lucy Heartfilia' in blood ink, not at all sure if that was what she was supposed to do, but willing to try anything to make the pain go away.

Natsu swallowed tightly, watching her form the final a in Heartfilia. This was it. Act. He didn't know if he could.

Yes, I can.

"You're wrong, Lucy." His voice sounded so emotionless.

Lucy's onyx pits found his. "About?"

"I don't love you too much for this." The world descended into a wash of red. Fire wrapped around the woman he loved as Natsu set about burning her from the earth.

Thanks for reading!

Just joshing. There's another chapter.