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The Last of Us

Chapter 2

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Humming her herself, Mirajane swept a cloth over the bar top, cleaning up the remnants of the party that had carried over from the day before. Some of her guildmates still hung around, most passed out drunk in various places, but a few, like Cana, were still lively.

"Another round!" the card mage called from the end of the bar, where her and a drunk Macao sat.

With an airy laugh, Mirajane moved to grab another drink from the tap. "I think Macao has had enough," she mused, setting a mug down in front of Cana. "He may already be passed out."

An incoherent grumble from the elder mage was her only response. The brunette grinned. "See? He's not down for the count yet!"

"Oh goodness. Romeo is going to be so upset with me. I promised him I'd watch his father's drinking," Mirajane deplored.

"What are you, his keeper? Come on, it's a celebration! Let him slide."

"The celebration started three days ago back in Crocus."

Cana pouted. "Way to kill the party, Mira."

Suddenly, the guildhall doors burst open, slamming into the walls behind it, and startling the few patrons who were still somewhat conscious. Mirajane's blue eyes rose, a smile on her face, expecting to see Team Natsu arriving back from the job they took that morning, but what she saw made her freeze in her tracks, a hand covering her mouth to suppress a gasp.

Loke stood in the doorway, his normally clean-kept suit tattered and torn, with an unconscious Lucy draped in his arms. Blood covered her face and clothes, soaking into the lion's white shirt. Beside them stood her other spirit, Virgo, with a barely conscious Gray settled on her back.

"We need help!" Loke shouted, his wide eyes shifting over what remained of the Fairy Tail mages at such a late hour.

Mirajane pushed down her fear and took charge. "Bring them to the infirmary!" she commanded, pointing down the hallway.

"What happened?" her little sister, Lisanna, asked, bustling out from the back room at the sound of Loke's cry.

"No time," Loke urged, already moving down the hallway. "We need Wendy!"

"On it!" Lisanna disappeared out the door toward the girl's dormitory to fetch the sky dragon slayer.

"I'll go grab Master." The barmaid was gone in a flash.

Loke heard a shout from Cana before she disappeared out the guildhall doors as he stepped into the infirmary. He laid Lucy down on one of the beds, brushing a few blonde strands of hair out of her face. Adrenaline pulsed through his veins as his mind ran a mile a minute. This wasn't supposed to happen! This isn't how it was supposed to be!

"Big Brother?" Virgo called from where she had laid Gray on another bed parallel to Lucy. "What are we going to do?"

The lion spirit shook his head, hazel eyes looking at his mage forlornly. "It's going to kill her," he murmured, his brows knitted tightly together. "It's going to kill both of them."

She folded her hands in front of her, blue eyes peering wistfully at the blonde. "They're going to ask about them."

"Then we don't tell them," he affirmed. "At least, not yet. Not until they've healed some. Let Wendy work her magic; let Lucy and Gray be oblivious for a while before they have to face what happened."

Virgo nodded, giving a small bow. "As you wish." In that moment she understood her assistance was no longer needed, and the drain she was placing on Lucy's magic had become an impediment. In a flash of golden light, she was gone.

"What happened?!" Wendy shouted as she dashed into the room, dressed in her pajamas and blue hair an absolute mess. She stopped in her tracks as she took in the sight of Gray and Lucy - both battered, bloody, and unconscious. Her brown eyes wide, her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh, no!"

"My word," Charle chimed in as she flew in behind Wendy. "What on Earth happened here?"

Lisanna appeared beside them with a deep frown. "Where's Natsu and Happy? And Erza?" she demanded.

Loke ignored her. "Wendy, please."

She glanced between her charges before finally settling on Gray being the worst of the two. "I-I'll do my best," she assured, hands hovering over the wound in his abdomen and igniting a soft glow.

The youngest Strauss sibling turned fierce eyes on Loke. "They were only gone on a simple mission! How did this happen?!"

Just then, Makarov Dreyer entered the room, followed by an anxious Mirajane. The small man shuffled over to where his adopted children lay, worry lines creasing his brows. "They were on a mission to capture some bandits in the next town over," he said, his expression grim. He turned accusing eyes on Lucy's spirit. "Explain."

"Let's allow Wendy to work," Loke instructed, gesturing toward the hallway. He, Mirajane, and the guild master exited the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the others to anxiously watch over Lucy and Gray. Loke exhaled deeply. "I'm not sure of the whole story," he admitted quietly. "Lucy didn't call me to her aide until the battle was already in full swing."

"Battle?" Makarov echoed. "What battle?"

Loke leaned against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. "I don't know what happened, but when she called me out, three demons from the books of Zeref were ravaging the town. There were fires and explosions - complete chaos."

"That's not right," Mirajane said, shaking her head. "How did a mission to capture bandits turn into fighting demons?"

He pulled his lips into a tight line. "I don't know. What I do know is that I was no match for whoever they were. Lucy was already low on magic energy by the time I was summoned. It seemed like they were giving it everything they had, but I could tell the fight was wearing them down. I didn't last long before I had to go back to the celestial realm."

"What of Natsu?" the master questioned. "And Erza?"

Loke dipped his gaze, his hands clenched tighter around himself. "They're dead."

Makarov stayed quiet for a moment, tears falling down his cheeks as he tried to discern the news. "My-My children…"

Loke's voice quivered as he spoke. "Th-There was nothing we could do," he whispered. "They managed to kill one of the demons off, but lost their own lives in the process."

A hand flew to Mirajane's mouth, tears springing into her eyes. "N-No!" she gasped, her legs giving way as she collapsed to her knees. "They-They can't be-" She drew in shallow sharp breaths, her body trembling. "H-How can you be sure?"

"When… When I was finally able to return with my own magic to make sure Lucy was okay, I found her kneeling over Natsu and…" He took a deep breath to steady himself and cleared his throat. "Lucy found Erza, too."

Makarov choked back a sob, his eyes full of fury. "How could this have happened? I don't understand! Who dared to hurt my children?!"

Loke adjusted his glasses. "Like I said, I'm not entirely sure. The threat had gone by the time I returned, and I don't know their whereabouts. I'm sure Lucy and Gray could tell you more, but I don't think we should tell them anything until Wendy has done what she can. They need their rest. Let them live with ignorance for tonight."

Blue eyes swimming with tears gazed up at them. "Wh-What are we supposed to do?" Mirajane whispered, her heart constricting painfully in her chest.

The master exhaled deeply, swiping tears from his eyes. "We need to bring them home. Let Wendy work her sky magic. I'll send the Thunder Legion."

"What about the rest of the guild?" Loke asked.

"There's nothing they can do right now." He sniffled, gathering his composure. "Allow them one last night of rest. Tomorrow…"

He let his sentence trail, not daring to finish it. He pushed his way back into the infirmary. Mirajane shook her head from where she had crumpled to the floor, her eyes wide and vision blurred.

"Erza… Natsu…" she whispered, squeezing the cloth of her dress over where her heart beat. Her body felt like lead, her tongue tasted like cough syrup, bitter and unwanted. It felt like deja vu, like the night she had lost Lisanna right before her eyes, leaving the guild broken and destroyed. They had lost one of their youngest mages, and it had rippled through everyone, leaving a scar upon their home.

But this… Losing two of their most treasured wizards in a single night… How could they survive this? Natsu… Erza… They were the forefront of the guild. They made everyone laugh and feel whole. Now who would pick up the pieces? Who would be there to make them laugh again?

Mirajane peered up at Loke, her body numb with the thoughts threatening to drown her. "Loke," she mumbled earnestly, needing him to wake her from this nightmare.

The lion spirit slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "I'm not going to tell you everything's okay," he mumbled, averting his eyes. "It'll be a long time before it is again."

With that, he disappeared, leaving a glitter of golden light to rain down on what remained of a disheveled and broken fairy.

The battlefield lay quiet, for now it was a graveyard for the unburied. Their corpses lay among the crumbled buildings and forget-me-nots. The sun had only risen and the wind still blew, but somewhere, families waited in vain. It seemed as if the majority of the townsfolk had not survived, leaving the rest to escape into the countryside.

Wide amber eyes swept over the wreckage. He heard a small gasp beside him, and a murmur of "holy hell". They had been sent on a rescue mission, but from what they had been told, it was more of a retrieval - to bring their fallen brethren home.

"Fan out," Laxus ordered, his voice cool and collected compared to the dread eating away at his stomach. "Search the area. And stay alert. We don't know where the demons have wandered off to."

Although hesitant, the Thunder Legion gave their nods of assent before each taking off in a different direction. Laxus began stepping over the wasteland, recalling the path in which Loke had described, where he was almost sure to find a pink-haired dragon slayer in his eternal slumber.

The thought made him sick.

How could that feisty kid, with so much fighting spirit, be bested by some demons? It just didn't seem plausible. Laxus had called Loke a liar, refused his grandfather's insistency, until he decided he needed to see it for himself. He could never believe Natsu was dead unless there was a body to prove it.

"Come on, kid," he grumbled, his eyes sweeping over the expanse of the battlefield. "Where are you?"

It took almost an hour for Laxus to find Natsu, just passed the town square. He lay in a pool of his own cold blood, his eyes half-lidded and his face ashen. Nausea swirled unrestrained in Laxus' empty stomach. His head swam with half-formed regrets and his heart felt as if his blood had become tar, struggling to keep a steady beat.

"Natsu…" Laxus almost choked on his name, falling to his knees beside him. He pushed the concrete off his chest and curled an arm around the dragon slayer's head, feeling the ice cold of his skin, the stiffness of his limbs.

The bastard had died with a smile on his face.

His vision blurred with tears, and he suddenly couldn't breathe. How… How had this happened? The Salamander, the Fire Dragon Slayer, dead…? He couldn't wrap his mind around this new reality.

A piercing scream tore his gaze away from the boy in his arms to the direction Evergreen had wandered off in. He carefully wrapped Natsu in his fur-lined jacket and pulled him to his chest as he stood. The walk to where he heard his comrade scream from seemed like a lifetime, his footsteps heavy and staggered.

Evergreen knelt in the middle of the rubble, her body trembling from her sobs. Freed and Bickslow arrived just as Laxus did, their wide eyes glancing between the bundle in the thunder mage's arms and the corpse Evergreen cried over.

"It-It can't be," Freed muttered, taking a step back as if he had been punched in the gut. "It can't possibly be."

Bickslow pulled his helmet free from his face, his mouth dropping open in an expression of stunned surprise. "No way…"

Evergreen turned to look at their leader, dark brown eyes overflowing with tears. "T-Titania is gone," she cried. "The Qu-Queen of the Fairies is dead!"

Laxus didn't need to check for himself. Just the image of Erza's broken body was enough to confirm that she was gone. He clenched his jaw, trying to keep the tears at bay as he gripped Natsu tighter in his arms.

"Cover her," he instructed quietly, nodding to the coat Evergreen wore. "Let's bring our family home."

"Wh-What about Happy?" Freed questioned, his voice breathy and uneven, as he remembered the blue exceed was still missing. "Has anyone found him?"

Everyone shook their heads. "I'll go look for him," Laxus offered, placing Natsu gently on the ground. He didn't need to voice to his comrades that it was doubtful the cat had survived. If he had, he would have been by Natsu's body, or with Lucy upon her return.

That morning, there was nothing but black smoke to line the glare of the sun.

"They're going to be suspicious."

Makarov focused his attention on the woman who entered his office. Mirajane looked exhausted, her eyes red and swollen, as if she had been up all night crying. He was sure that she had been. He hadn't been able to sleep either.

"I know," he replied to her comment, clenching the pen tighter in his hand. He had mindlessly been signing off on paperwork half the night, the only thing keeping his buried anger in check. "But Loke said-"

"To hell with what Loke said," the take-over mage spat, her eyes fierce. "Erza and Natsu are dead. Happy is missing, meanwhile you leave Gray and Lucy, their teammates, in the dark?!"

The master furrowed his brows and gave her a hard stare. "It's not only my decision to make. They need time to recover from their wounds."

"What about the rest of the guild?" she argued, tears gathering in her eyes. "Are you going to leave them in the dark as well?"

He sighed, dropping his pen and running his hands over his balding head. "What am I going to say to them? I don't have all the answers. I don't even know what exactly happened or who was behind this."

She took a deep breath to reel in her anger. "We are a family." Her voice quivered. "We… We have just lost two of our own. There is no avoiding that pain. This will tear the entire guild apart. We need each other!"

Makarov averted his gaze to the window, watching as birds flew by. It was still early, but most of the guild would be arriving in the hall for breakfast. As is, he wouldn't be able to hide the news of their family for long. There had been other members at the guild last night, albeit drunk, but they would be wondering what exactly had occurred. As far as they knew, something terrible had happened and the Thunder Legion had been sent to help.

"I hate to see my children suffering." He felt his throat tighten as he drew in a breath. "It kills me to see it."

Mirajane choked back a sob. "We-We need you, Master," she cried, folding her arms around herself. "We-We can't get through this without you."

The old man stayed quiet for a moment. Regret washed over him, the what-ifs and should've-beens running through his mind. How he longed to go back and take a different path, to stop them from taking that mission, tell them he would cover Lucy's rent so they could rest properly. But now… it was impossible. There was no way to turn back the hands of the clock. There was no way to make it right. And he knew the guilt would eat away at him for the rest of his days.

"All right," he finally agreed quietly. He reluctantly stood from his chair and made his way to Mirajane's side. "We'll go inform Lucy and Gray first. Then the rest of the guild."

She swiped at her tears. "Of course."

"I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to break the news." He sighed deeply, folding his hands behind his back.

"Do what you always do. Speak from the heart."

"What could I say? Something poetic and beautiful?" He shook his head. "I can't about this. Some situations are too hard to glorify."

And a man whose stature was so large in every sense of the word… suddenly looked so small.

The sky was dark and explosive.

"This isn't time to falter!"

Terror widened her bloodshot eyes.

"Please, just hold on a little longer!"

She felt burning in her chest and electricity in her veins.

"Lucy!"

She stood frozen, lips half open, as ash fell from the sky in flakes of grey.

"Lucy?!"

"Lucy?"

Her eyes rolled open, blinking blearily to clear the fog of sleep, only to be met with a look of concern. Wendy hovered over her bedside with her hands clasped gently around her own. Apparently she had been restless in her sleep, the sheets tangled around her and soaked with a cold sweat.

"Where…?" she tried to ask, her voice hoarse. She licked her dry, cracked lips.

"It's okay. You're at Fairy Tail," the dragon slayer explained with a reassuring smile. "You're safe."

Lucy's chest heaved as she breathed heavily, her nightmares fading as she focused on the stale walls of the infirmary. Her head whirled as she struggled to sit up, leaning against the headboard behind her, trying to remember how she had gotten there in the first place.

"Ow," she groaned, wincing and curling an arm around her waist, which had been wrapped in bandages. Her entire body ached, and no matter how she moved, it was impossibly painful. "That really packs a punch."

Wendy frowned. "I'm sorry. I'm still recovering from everything that happened in Crocus. I wasn't able to do much, but Porlyusica has been helping me."

"Porlyusica's here?" the blonde questioned, furrowing her brows. If their medicinal advisor was here, they must be in pretty bad shape.

"Yeah, Jet brought her back last night."

Brown eyes turned to the other bed, taking in the unconscious Gray. He didn't seem much better off than she did. "Is he all right?"

"He'll be okay," Wendy promised. "He just needs to rest. You were both so depleted of magic energy, it'll be a while before you regain your strength."

She grasped her celestial keys from the nightstand, fiddling with them curiously, and feeling them warm with comfort from her touch. "What happened? I remember going on a job, but…"

Wendy shifted her feet nervously. "I'll go let Master know you're awake." She quickly scampered out of the room, leaving the celestial mage alone.

Alone.

Lucy swept her gaze over the infirmary once more. Usually when she was injured, she'd have a pink-haired dragon slayer religiously at her bedside. Not often did he leave until he knew she was okay and out of danger. Where was he, anyways? Or Happy and Erza for that matter?

And then flashes from the night before came back full force, making her gasp for breath - the job, the bandits, the sudden appearance of Zeref's demons, and the long fight that ensued afterwards. She remembered waking up after the entire town had been destroyed, finding Virgo and Gray, being comforted by Loke…

Because Erza and Natsu…

Hot tears sprang into her eyes as Lucy shook her head in denial. There was no way! Erza and Natsu couldn't be dead. They were Erza and Natsu! Some of the strongest mages in the guild! No way could some monsters be the end of them.

"We'll bring them home, Lucy."

Loke's soothing words replayed, and she felt her heart ease. That's right. He promised he would bring their friends home, where Wendy could heal them. She smiled. Of course. What had she been thinking? Erza and Natsu were probably already in the hall eating. The two of them bounced back quickly enough.

She pulled her lips into a tight line, drawing her attention to Gray. His ashen complexion and the sweat beading his brow spoke of pain. She only hoped it would pass sooner rather than later.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit her and she sighed deeply. The battle they had been in really did a number on her. She had called on nearly every spirit in her arsenal, including Gemini to perform Urano Metria after she ultimately had to call on Loke. Even the Magic of the Stars hadn't been enough to destroy the demons.

But a nagging thought pulled at her, the image of a fire dragon slayer coming to mind - a silly grin, blood dripping down his chin, an apology, and a shuddered breath. She swallowed thickly, remembering a bloody halo framing a queen, a cry of denial from her comrade, and the comforting embrace of a lion.

Every breath she expelled felt hollow in her chest. Her eyes turned as the door to the infirmary opened, revealing a small, elderly man and a silver-haired barmaid. "Ah, it's good to see you awake," he greeted.

Makarov's expression spoke volumes, and her heart dropped to her stomach. "Master… Mira…," Lucy mumbled as tears came to her eyes. Her chest constricted painfully, breathing becoming hard. She didn't want to ask - didn't want them to confirm what she already knew.

Their master stood at her bedside, his usually warm eyes hardened with grief. "Lucy, my dear. How are you feeling?"

She shook her head dismissively, wide eyes staring at her guildmates with building panic. "He's… He's gone, isn't he?" she whispered. "Him and Erza and Happy…"

Mirajane sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand gently, She rubbed soothing circles over her skin with the pad of her thumb, but stayed silent, giving Lucy all the confirmation she needed.

This isn't real.

"I should've never let you take that mission. The outcome is my burden to bear," Makarov explained, knowing his words held little weight if he could even begin to suspect what Lucy had witnessed. "I don't want you to blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault." He sighed deeply, wanting to further ask her exactly what had transpired on that battlefield, but seeing the crumbling expression on her face, he knew it wasn't the time. First, they needed to grieve.

The emptiness in Lucy's heart began to consume her. Brown eyes welled up and tears fell down her bandaged face, lips trembling.

This can't be real.

Mirajane folded her hand over Lucy's tighter, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Natsu, Erza, and Happy," the takeover mage spoke, her voice hitching. "They didn't make it. They all died in battle."

At first there was silence - a misty haze upon the horizons of Lucy's mind. That's where she kept her emotions bottled up. That was… until now. She could feel the hard, painful lump in the back of her throat as the tears fell faster. Slowly, her breathing hollowed itself and a small, but intense pain struck the top nerve in her head.

Her upper body and shoulders wracked with every sob that forced its way out, chest rising and falling unevenly as she gasped for breath. She squeezed her eyes shut, covering her mouth with her hand as the tears dripped between her fingers. Before she knew it there was shouting, it was hers, and yet it seemed too distant. Time had fast forward. She couldn't remember the briefest of moments. All she saw was her own fists grasping at her celestial keys for comfort, her tear-stained sheets. She even recognized her own voice repeating, "No, no, no!"

Then there were arms around her and she was being smothered by the scent of cake batter and alcohol. She faintly heard a soothing voice in her ear as her body shook with heartache.

Please don't let me believe this is real!

It couldn't have lasted long though, the screaming. A rushing sound filled her ears and all she knew were her hysterical cries that shook the infirmary walls. Deep down, she had known Natsu had died. He had taken his final breath in her arms with a smile on his face. But she hadn't wanted to believe it. If she didn't believe it, it couldn't be true.

But here was someone else, someone else outside the realms of her mind that confirmed one of her deepest fears. Natsu… Erza… Happy… Their teammates. Their friends. Their family. They were all gone.

It took awhile for Lucy to finally calm down, for her to lift her face from Mirajane's chest, which had been soaked with her tears. She glanced between them, their expressions twisted into one she was sure mirrored her own - filled with grief and despair.

And then her gaze landed on Gray, who remained blissfully unconscious through it all. "Wh-Where are they?" Lucy croaked, her voice hoarse from crying.

"The Thunder Legion just brought them home," Makarov explained. "They will have a proper Fairy Tail send off."

"Send off," she echoed, scoffing bitterly as she pushed the tears from her cheeks. "Sounds like they're just leaving the guild."

Mirajane squeezed her hand affectionately, her own face red and blotchy from crying, as she turned her attention to Makarov. "Everyone from the guild will be arriving soon," she reminded quietly. "They'll have questions."

He nodded solemnly. "I'll have to make an announcement. I've already started on the arraignments."

Lucy hiccupped, feeling a new wave of tears sting her eyes. "I-I can't…"

The barmaid looked at her with concern. "Lucy, I'm here for you. I can stay with you if you want."

She shook her head, blonde hair falling over her shoulders, as she pulled her hand free from Mirajane's grasp. "No, you need to go with Master," she reasoned. "I… I want to be alone."

There was hesitation, and then she nodded robotically. She opened her mouth to speak, but they both knew there was nothing to say.

This was when the heroes, armed with the strength and courage of old, dueled against the ancient evil…

And lost.