Chapter 27: Frozen Flames
"Gajeel, wait up!" Levy's voice bounced off the nearby buildings as she ran down the sidewalk, the tall man she was running after stopped in his tracks, turning around to watch his newly made friend get closer to him with a grin on his face. She let out a huff as she stopped running right in front of him, her cheeks puffed out.
"You went ahead without me you big jerk!" She crossed her arms annoyed that Gajeel had left her house because she was getting dressed for the day, after dinner last night Gajeel had ended up staying the night, and they were on their way to meet up with the other three members of their team.
"Oh sorry my bad! You're just so tiny I thought I packed you in my bag!" Gajeel grinned cockily as he held up his brown sack bag making Levy glare at him.
"I am not tiny!" She shot back fuming, Gajeel began cackling at her reaction. He scruffed up her hair much to her annoyance.
"Sure you ain't, now come on shrimp, don't wanna be late now do we…" Gajeel proceeded to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder much to her objections. She began pounding on his back.
"GAJEEL PUT ME DOWNNNN!" She cried out punching his back while onlookers watched on trying to suppress laughs at the two teenagers' antics.
"Oi! Will ya shut up! You're giving me a headache." Gajeel snapped at her, but Levy just kept punching his back and squirming while yelling at him to put her down. He sighed and kept walking towards their destination. He soon arrived at the address he was given that belonged to Gray's house, he placed Levy down and her face was bright red and she gave him a dirty look and punched him on the shoulder.
"Jerk…" She muttered, but it was obvious that she wasn't actually all that upset. Gajeel smirked at her again and knocked on the front door. A moment later the front door swung open and the two were left standing in front of a smiling woman with short dark purple hair.
"Ah Levy! Gray said you would be over, it's so good to see you again!" The woman walked forward and hugged the blue haired girl leaving Gajeel standing there awkwardly.
"It's good to see you too!" Levy smiled and pulled away from the woman.
"And you must be Gajeel? Juvia's description was spot on!" She turned to the iron dragon who nodded.
"Yeah, we go back a bit…" He rubbed the back of his head.
"Well it's nice to meet you! I'm Ur, Gray's aunt." Ur beamed as she held out her hand for Gajeel to take and shake.
"A pleasure to meet you as well." Gajeel replied, Levy was actually impressed with how well mannered Gajeel could be, last night had actually gone well without a problem and he actually seemed to get along with her parents.
"Come in, come in no point standing out here in the cold." Ur beamed and led the two teens inside her home, the instantaneous warmth of the house hit them right away and it was welcome compared to the cold outdoors.
"Gray's up in his room with Erza, and Juvia. Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked sweetly.
"No thanks."
"Nah, I'm good." Gajeel and Levy spoke in unison.
"Okay, well if you need anything feel free to ask me!" She waltzed into the kitchen to grab herself some tea, Levy and Gajeel began walking towards the stairs while Gajeel looked around at the cozy living space and noticed a picture hung up on the wall, a younger version of Ur was holding a small kid in her arms, while a miniature version of herself stood in front of her. She stood next to two adults, one with spiky black hair, and a face that resembled Gray's almost identically the only exception being a large scar on his face, and a beautiful woman holding a child with black hair. He must have been staring at it, because Ur had snuck up behind him.
"That's my brother Silver and his wife Mika." She explained, her voice was slightly quiet as she took a sip of her tea.
"Oh wow, so that's what Gray's parents looked like...He's never showed us any pictures." Levy looked at the picture frame as well, Ur looked down at the drink in her hands slightly crestfallen.
"They passed not long after that picture was taken….It's been nearly sixteen years and not a day goes by that I don't think about them….Silver was the oldest of us all...Lyon lost his mother, my sister in childbirth and I took him in…."
"How'd he pass?" Levy asked softly. Ur looked up at her with watery eyes.
"The three of us were all born with ice powers, but Silver's was by far the strongest….He trained to the point where he unlocked something within, he called it his demon form….His body got coated in this strange black substance, and his power increased exponentially, so he used his powers to stop these creations by some guy named Zeref from destroying everything...And he was successful in slaying many, earning him the nickname: The Devil Slayer...That was except for one…."
"Was its name E.N.D by any chance?" Gajeel asked softly, Levy glanced at him with a confused look.
"...Y-yeah….how did you know?" Ur replied, Gajeel's eyes darkened as he glared at the wall.
"My pops left me to fight a demon by that very name….He never returned either…." Ur and Levy's eyes widened at this.
"Gajeel…." Levy rubbed his arm assuringly, but he shrugged.
"He left me a letter, even though I was an infant at the time and couldn't read, so I grew up in an orphanage and had a nun read it to me every night…I do know one thing for sure...If E.N.D or Zeref ever comes back….I'll be ready." Gajeel growled clenching his fist.
"I believe Gray shares your feelings about that…" Ur muttered. Levy looked at the two confused.
"Wait I'm confused...if there was this big fight sixteen years ago, how come I've never heard about it until now?" She asked Ur who let out a sigh.
"Nobody does really, it was one of those things that only a handful of people knew, there were only nine of Zeref's minions, and nine people fighting against them, Silver was one of them including the Eight Dragons as they were dubbed...Things were looking good until E.N.D was unleashed on them, if you ever wondered what happened to the old town of Rosemary….it was burned to the ground by that damn demon…"
"An entire town?...I thought the official statement was it was some freak accident…At least that's what my parents told me..."
"That's because nobody knows the truth. There were only two survivors from that fight...Natsu's pop Igneel, and the leader of the dragons Acnologia…E.N.D disappeared without a trace...as did Zeref..." Gajeel explained, and Levy stood there shaken to the core.
"Yeah...anyway you two should head on up we've kept Gray waiting long enough…" Ur changed the subject.
"R-right…C'mon Gajeel we need to inform the others on what we found…" Levy pulled Gajeel up the stairs leaving Ur to stare at the picture on the wall.
"...To think….E.N.D was just a mere child….And it caused so much pain, and destruction….I pray it never returns…." Ur felt a shiver go up her spine at the thought.
Lucy yawned as she sat in a large room looking forward at a podium there had been an announcement to meet in this location over the speakers about an hour ago, she didn't get much sleep in the guard's quarters partly, because she was too much on edge and partly out of worry for Natsu. Erigor's words had been echoing in her head all night from when he told Natsu he only had two days left to live, which meant the clock was seriously ticking. He must have been poisoned or something, luckily she had time to think of a plan since she hadn't ever fallen asleep. Looking around the room she tried to spot Lyon or Meredy, but the problem was all the guards looked the damn same making it nearly impossible to find.
"Excuse me, is that spot taken?" A sweet feminie voice spoke from next to her, she glanced up and came eye to eye with Angel?
"Umm, no it's not…" Lucy stated feeling uncomfortable.
"Perfect." Angel smiled and sat down, she seemed different from when Lucy had met her on the van the day prior, she had this look in her eye that looked almost like sadness?
"Ashley right?" Angel looked over to Lucy who tilted her head before remembering her alias she had chosen.
"Y-yeah. And you are Angel? We met yesterday." Lucy spoke sweetly, Angel smirked at her.
"The one and only, I thought you seemed familiar." Angel answered with an equally sweet voice that took Lucy off guard. She proceeded to stare at the front of the room, her smile falling into a frown as the rest of her features softened. Lucy took a shaky breath, was she really about to do this?
"Ummm...Are you feeling alright? You seem off…" Lucy asked warmly, Angel returned her gaze to her.
"No, not really in all honesty…" Angel sighed. Lucy shifted awkwardly to look at the white haired woman a bit better. Judging by the bags underneath her eyes she hadn't gotten much sleep either.
"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that….Do you need to talk about it?" Angel shrugged.
"It's just a whole complicated situation…." She began but as she was talking Brain had walked into the room his arms crossed behind his back like normal. Lucy and Angel both shifted in their chairs to look at him, both with a look of disdain.
"Good morning everyone…" He spoke in his usual calm demeanor once he reached the podium. A couple of guards muttered a greeting back at him, but he didn't acknowledge them.
"As many of you know last night we were successful in collecting more ethernano from two of our prisoners...Which brings us closer to completing our goal." Angel balled up her face and stared darkly at him as he spoke.
"We currently have eleven prisoners of which we have taken the ethernano of five...Richard Buchanan, Kinana, Kagura Mikazuchi, Bacchus Groh, and Yukino Agria all have had their powers sapped from them…" Brain spoke, a few of the guards clapped.
"Bastard…." Angel seethed, Lucy snuck a glance at her remembering her confrontation with Brain yesterday, that must be why she is upset.
"So with that, I am pleased to announce that we are on schedule...The samples of the ethernano have already been sent to Tartaros….soon all of Ishgar will belong to the Balam Alliance!" He announced proudly, causing multiple guards to cheer. They were dispersed a little after that allowing Lucy to look around for and find Meredy and Lyon, all feeling uneasy with what they had heard. They were sitting at the cafeteria right now, Lucy poking at her oatmeal with her mask down, Lyon and Meredy had just removed their helmets to eat.
"Ethernano is the mutation inside us that allows us to use our powers….If they really have found a way to drain us of that….it's terrifying." Meredy explained, shuddering at the thought of losing her powers.
"I conquer, which means the sooner we can get everyone out of here the better…" Lyon spoke, Lucy's mind wandered to Natsu, and the agony he must be in.
"I agree, but how do we go about that?" Lucy asked as she ate a spoonful of her oatmeal.
"Maybe I could be of some help…" A new voice led them to look up at the new figure standing next to their table holding a tray of food.
"A-Angel…." Lucy stuttered in fear that their cover had just been blown. She let out a gulp as Angel slid in the seat next to her at the table.
"I heard you were looking for a way to bust all the prisoners out...I want to help…" She stated with a smile, the three others looked at each other.
"W-why?" Lucy asked unsure.
"Yeah, and how do you know we can trust you?" Meredy spat.
"I don't know how I can make you trust me….Just know that I have been planning ways to bust the prisoners out ever since I had found out my sister had been captured…."
"Sister?" Lyon asked.
"Yeah...her name is Yukino…She's my baby sister, and I love her more than anything...Brain hurt her….and for that I need to get back at him…"
"You are one of the Seis though...We can't trust you, you probably will just lock us up! Like you did Jellal and Ultear!" Meredy snarled. Angel let out a sigh.
"You're right….I am a member of the Seis, but one thing you should know about us….We all hate Brain...He took us when we were kids...The only reason we have stuck around and done his bidding was because we were scared little kids...Please Ashley you have to trust me, I just want to help Yukino…" All eyes at the table turned to look at Lucy, who studied Angel's face closely looking for any sign of deceit. She seemed genuine, and earlier when Brain was speaking there was genuine hatred in her eyes when she looked at him. Could she really trust a member of the Seis? Her mind wandered to Natsu, the words Erigor had spoken still echoing in her head. She didn't have a plan, and Natsu didn't have time she needed to do whatever she could to save him.
"I believe you...And for the record I lied, my name is actually Lucy…" Lucy smiled at the white haired girl who smiled back at her sweetly.
"Lucy huh? Yeah that name suits you a lot more! And thank you so much! I swear I won't let you down!" Lucy smiled warmly at the girl, Lyon and Meredy gave her an unsure look.
"Here come with me! There is no time to lose!" Angel rose back to her feet leaving her food untouched. The three looked at each other confused.
"Where are we going Angel?" Lucy asked the woman who beamed at her.
"To meet up with the others! And please call me my real name, Sorano!"
"Others?" Lyon asked skeptically.
"Yeah! Erik, and Sawyer...the three of us have been trying to get out of the Seis for years along with Richard…" A small twinge of sadness was present in her voice at the mention of Richard.
"Ooookay?" Lucy replied, growing more unsure of this by the second. She stood up and followed Sorano out of the cafeteria, Meredy and Lyon lagging behind. They followed her through the halls until she came to a halt in front of a door that had a sign on it with the word security written on it. Sorano swiped her security card and the door unlocked allowing her to open it and let the three in. They walked in making sure to keep their guard up still not completely trusting her.
"I texted the others telling them to meet here, until then I want to show you something." Sorano started walking over to the large desk in the middle of the room, she opened the drawer and fished for something, once more the three imposters glanced at each other preparing for the worst.
"Here it is…" Sorano muttered as she held up a silver collar, the very same one that was strapped around all the prisoners.
"A power nullifier collar?" Lyon asked, unsure of why Sorano was showing them it. She nodded and threw it onto the desktop.
"Yup...but that's not what I wanted to show you, I wanted to show you this!" She held up a small silver key. She saw that they weren't following her so she rolled her eyes and picked up the collar, she placed it around her neck and clicked in place.
"I don't know exactly how it works, but somehow it makes the ethernano inside our blood to become dormant….but this!" She once again held up the key, and placed it in a small hole on the side of the collar.
"Unlocks it, and makes our powers work again!" She beamed as the collar unhooked and fell to the ground.
"So what we need to do is somehow get everyone's collar off without being noticed." A new voice in the room caused them to whip their heads around. A tall lanky blonde haired man was standing in the doorway.
"Of course, I am fast enough to do this, but then comes the problem of us being vastly outnumbered, not to mention Brain himself." He explained walking into the room completely, and coming to a stop next to Sorano.
"Ugh, did you have to steal my thunder Sawyer?" Sorano huffed, Sawyer shrugged with a smirk.
"Sorry about that, I just couldn't help myself."
"Whatever, where is Erik?!" Sorano rolled her eyes, Lucy and the others stayed silent and on guard as they recognized Sawyer as another member of the Seis.
"I'm right here." A deep, gravelly voice spoke up as the door swung open revealing a man with reddish, purple hair and a scar over one of his eyes. Cobra, Lucy recognized making it so that they were now in a room with four out of the five members of Mard Geer's fake Crime Sorcière.
"S-so….we know how to get the prisoners to use their powers...but what do we do about the rest of the guards who are loyal to Brain?" Meredy piped up, unsure of what else to do. All three members of the Seis in the room turned to look at her, making her nervous.
"Who are these losers?" Erik turned to look at Sorano who glared at him.
"These fine people...are going to help us!" She exclaimed.
"How is that exactly?" Sawyer asked, crossing his arms.
"Wellll…..we aren't allowed down in the cell block...thanks to someone…" Sorano glared at Erik who rolled his eye.
"So, we need some guards to get into the cells and get the prisoner's collars off!" Sorano beamed.
"And after that?" Lyon asked coolly.
"We haven't thought about that part yet….I guess we fight our way out?" Sorano shrugged, Lucy stood there deep in thought, but then came up with an idea.
"We could do it tonight. While everyone is in the quarters...Then we don't need to fight our way out! We can sneak out, and steal one of the vans to get everyone out." Sorano's smile grew.
"That is a great idea Lucy! You are so smart!" She gushed, causing Lucy to blush at the compliment.
"Whatever...As long as I can get Kinana out of this Hellhole I'm okay with it." Erik shrugged. Sawyer grinned.
"Hell yeah, and Richard as well, poor fella. Just wanted to reunite with his bro."
"Wait….what's going on there?" Meredy asked, interrupting the conversation, pointing at one of the screens that was behind the desk, they all turned to look at what she was pointing at. Lucy's heart once again fell as she saw what Meredy was talking about.
"Looks like prisoner eight got tired of Erigor's bullshit…" Erik stated as they watched what appeared to be a fight that had broken out in the cafeteria between Erigor, and a salmon haired prisoner.
3 Minutes Prior:
Natsu was sitting at the cafeteria table alone with Jellal, Bacchus as well as Richard weren't there since they had been taken from their cells sometime last night. They weren't completely alone, there was some strange new prisoner sitting across from him who kept sniffing the cheese sandwich and muttering about how interesting the parfum of it was. Whatever that meant. Along with them they were circled around by hundreds of guards. Natsu let out a large yawn, followed by a coughing attack. He felt like crap, he got no sleep the previous night thanks to more of Midnight's nightmares. On top of that his insides were burning more than they had before, it was obvious the poison was growing closer and closer to ending it all. Along with that he was completely sore, from his broken leg that was left untreated, to the countless cuts, welts, and bruises courtesy of the now almost hourly beatings. He had never felt weaker. Gone was his mentality that he needed to stay strong for Lucy, he had accepted his fate. He was going to die in two days, not able to see her again.
"My goodness! Is this what they try to pass off as food! It's absolutely revolting!" Ichiya yelped out as he had finally stopped smelling his food and attempted to take a bite.
"If you don't want it I'll take it...I'm starving…" Natsu offered, Ichiya looked at him with a disgusted look and handed it to him.
"You must have a stomach of steel Natsu…" Jellal mused with a sly smirk, Natsu shrugged as he swallowed the last of his own cheese sandwich. One of the worst parts of the poison in his body besides the whole dying thing had been that Natsu couldn't keep anything down. It had damaged his immune system pretty badly.
"Yeah well it's easy to be hungry when you keep throwing everything back up." He stated as he began eating the sandwich Ichiya had given him.
"Even so, we are gentlemen! I'd like to have a word with the chef!" Ichiya started getting up from his seat.
"That's not the greatest idea…" Jellal tried to reason with the redhead.
"Oh nonsense...I'm sure if I use my irresistible charm on them, they will make us something more worthwhile!"
"You really don't grasp this prison thing do you?" Natsu asked, watching as Ichiya hopped out of his chair, ignoring his question. Natsu just shook his head and returned to his food.
"Where do you think you are going?" A familiar whispery voice caused Natsu to glance back up to find Erigor holding Ichiya up in the air by his shirt. Natsu let a low rumble escape his throat as he glared at Erigor.
"Please kind sir, place me down! I only wish to meet with the chef to discuss the food situation." Ichiya explained calmly. Erigor chuckled.
"I don't think so midget...Sit your ass back down…" Erigor tossed Ichiya onto the ground, both Jellal and Natsu glared at him as the rest of the guards in the cafeteria burst into laughter.
"Leave him alone." Natsu growled, his tone dangerously low. He was pretty much done with Erigor's crap, and he figured if he was going to die, might as well do it defending someone else, then let the lousy poison claim him. Erigor turned to face him with a wicked grin.
"What was that Salamander?" He hissed, Natsu stood up despite the shooting pain in his leg and hobbled toward Erigor getting in his face.
"I said….leave him….alone." Natsu grunted. Jellal watched in curiosity to see what was going to happen and if he needed to intervene. Erigor grinned at Natsu as Ichiya stood back up also watching the scene unfold.
"Oh...and I suppose you're going to make me?" Erigor pushed Natsu back making him almost tumble over, again the guards watching the scene unfold burst into laughter, Natsu recovered his balance and returned his gaze back to Erigor. Completely unaware of the woman walking into the cafeteria having finished in the bathrooms. Erigor however noticed and made eye contact with Wendy.
"It's a shame you are on the deathbed...why without you...I'll need a new punching bag...Lucky for me that she's here…" He motioned his head in her direction, Natsu turned his head to see who he was talking about. His eyes met Wendy's who were wide out of fear, a pink haired girl next to her along with Ultear were watching on much like everyone else in the room were, waiting to see what was going to happen.
"I can already hear the cries of pain that'll come from that small thing…A pity she won't have you there to protect her from what I'll do to her…" Natsu blood boiled as Erigor whispered in his ear, and before he could do anything Erigor had reached onto the table and grabbed Natsu's glass of juice dumping it onto Natsu who cringed as the sticky liquid trickled down his shirt and in his hair. Once again the guards burst into laughter. He reacted faster than he had ever thought he could, he clenched his fist and swung making solid contact with Erigor's jaw. The man backed up holding the spot Natsu had just punched. All the noise in the cafeteria had ceased, and it was now deadly silent as Natsu's actions set in, but before anyone could process it Erigor retaliated.
"YOU BRAT!" He shot at Natsu who grappled with Erigor. Erigor attempted a punch of his own, Natsu luckily could see it coming and blocked it, he grabbed the arm Erigor had punched with and twisted it, he proceeded to send another strong uppercut to Erigor's chin making him fall onto the ground.
"You have no idea how good that felt…" Natsu growled cracking his knuckles. Erigor once again pounced at Natsu tackling him onto the ground. The two rolled around on the ground unable to do much more than attempt to choke out the other. The guards in the cafeteria had finally seemed to grasp what was happening and raced forward. They grabbed Natsu by the back of his shirt and lifted him off of Erigor before slamming him onto the ground and pinning him. Natsu cried out as he was slammed into the metal floor. Several guards held him down, sat on his back holding both his arms behind him, another had a knee on the back of his neck and the last kept his legs in place preventing him from kicking them off. Natsu let out a growl, Jellal and the other prisoners moved to help him out.
"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!" A loud booming voice echoed throughout the room. Everyone looked towards the sliding doors where Brain now stood, his arms still crossed behind his back as he stalked over in Natsu's direction.
"Prisoner eight….Why must you make things more difficult on yourself…." He sighed as he ducked down, uncrossing his arms to grab a fistful of Natsu's salmon locks. Natsu growled and spat at Brain's face, smirking up at the man triumphantly. Brain shut his eyes and took a deep breath before tightening his grip on Natsu's hair and smashing his head against the ground hard. Natsu groaned as his vision turned fuzzy, Brain lifted his head back up and repeated the action.
"I have had enough of this...Perhaps you need time to cool off your temper...Take him to the ice box..And let him sit in there until he is begging for his life…" Brain commanded before rising back up to his feet, he placed a boot on Natsu's head putting pressure down on it.
"I told you Mr. Dragneel that I would break you...and I intend on doing just that…"
"STOP THAT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" A high pitched squeaky voice screamed and Wendy attempted to rush forward, but a guard caught her and prevented her from getting closer to Natsu who looked at her with soft eyes.
"It's okay Wendy….I'm okay…" He lied as he was lifted back onto his feet by the three guards.
"It's not polite to lie Mr. Dragneel…" Brain stated matter of factly, Natsu just grinned at him ignoring his dizziness and urge to throw up.
"I'm not lying….I'm perfectly fine….you can't break me Brain…You don't have it in you." Natsu looked Brain dead in the eye, even though he was dying, even though his body was broken and he was devoid of all hope of ever getting out of this place. He wasn't about to give Brain satisfaction, Brain's face fell into a frown.
"We'll see about that...take him away!" He ordered the guards who dragged him away.
"NATSU NO!" Wendy yelled out struggling against the guard holding her back.
"Hey calm down brat!" They muttered, Natsu turned his head to look at the young girl and grinned at her.
"I'll be fine Wendy. Don't worry!" The young girl watched with tears in her eyes as Natsu was dragged out of the cafeteria. Sherria wrapped her arms around her friend comfortingly, Ultear and Jellal glared at Brain who was using a handkerchief to clean off his face from Natsu spitting at him. Ichiya was looking at Erigor on the ground who was nursing a broken nose, and a fresh black eye.
"Serves you right for having such a horrid parfum…" He muttered. Natsu had been dragged down a few flights of stairs and brought into a room that was quite frigid.
"Strip him…" One of the guards and the others, Natsu blinked a few times registering what had been said, and by the time he had the two guards had ripped his jumpsuit top and bottoms off leaving him in his boxers.
"Hey! What's the big idea!" He snapped at them hopping around on his good leg. The third guard ignored him and walked over to what looked like a fire hose, and pointed it at Natsu who gulped. He turned it on and a jetstream of ice cold water was blasted in his face leaving him completely soaked from head to toe, and shivering. The other two guards walked over to a large metal door and swung it open revealing a tiny room, barely the size of a janitor's closet that was completely coated in ice.
"Come on! Get in there!" The one holding the hose snapped and pushed the shivering Natsu inside of the freezer, Natsu turned in time to watch the large door slam leaving him in the pitch black freezer, soaking wet. He began to shiver even worse than before as he curled into a ball, attempting to keep himself warm as his teeth chattered. His fingers, and toes began turning blue as he rubbed himself to try and have friction keep himself somewhat warm. He shut his eyes tight as he tightened the ball he had wrapped himself into. If the poison by some miracle didn't kill him, he was probably going to freeze to death anyway. He prayed that by some miracle he could use his powers again, wanting nothing more than to feel the warmth of his flames.
Chapter 28: The Last Day
Keep up the amazing reviews! I hope you all had a happy holiday! And hope you have a great new year! Hopefully 2021 is better than 2020 LOL! I love all of ya!