AN: Here we are! Back with Arc Two! Hurray! Be sure to leave a review and tell me your thoughts on the chapters! I love to know what you all think! Enjoy!
Berserk
Arc Two: Chapter Five
{those intrepid heroes; those who wade out into battle}
A crashing sound rips Lucy away from her conversation with Romeo, her younger brother cutting off mid-sentence, half-smile still quirked on his lips, his eyes bleary and barely awake. Her head snaps around, her own eyes narrowing, bewildered, sleep still pulling at her mind. She'd only woken some minutes earlier, alone but still warm, a comfortable heat still lingering in the air. Romeo was stumbling out of his room as she was leaving hers, and they found themselves in the kitchen easily enough.
She hadn't thought much about where Natsu went, assuming he merely needed time to himself. Lucy wouldn't blame him if he did. The house was curiously quiet when she awoke, no sound coming from Laxus' room and the living space empty, Makarov still tinkering away in his shop.
For a moment she was back in her old routine: Romeo crawling out of bed late into the morning, all smiles and clumsy feet as he stumbled into the world; Laxus out in the forge, the dull sound of a hammer echoing faintly through the walls; Makarov singing in his workshop, glass bottles clinking together as he mixed his spells; she and Romeo making breakfast together, laughing and joking. They would poke fun at Laxus as he came inside, covered in sweat and static, the scar across his eye crinkling as he smirked at them, and eventually Makarov would come inside, new spots staining his shirt, the smell of magic clinging to him.
For a moment she simply forgot, her thoughts hazy in the early morning. There was no echo of metal on metal from outside, and Makarov wasn't singing. It hit her a moment too late, why it was so quiet, where everyone was. Her fingers froze around the egg in her hand, grin still pulling at her lips, her spine going stiff.
A second banging sound follows the first, a muffled yell coming from Makarov's workshop. Romeo fumbles with the pan he's holding, grip slackening as his eyes widen, startled by the scream. The pan slips from his fingers, clanging loudly against the floor. The egg in Lucy's hand follows soon after, her feet already moving as she races towards Makarov's workshop.
Another slam.
"Lucy!" Romeo calls after her, a concerned note to his voice, but she ignores it, hearing his footsteps trailing hers, only a half-step behind as he hurries after her. She already knows what's happening before she comes close to the other room, the sounds of splintering glass and muffled shouts reaching her ears from halfway across the house.
Practically racing towards Makarov's workshop, Lucy's bare feet slip against the wood floors, the floor becoming sticky as she nears the shop, liquid seeping from beneath the thick, wooden door, a sickly smell tickling at her senses. A potion vile must have fallen close to the door, likely harmless, but she still flinches as it licks at her skin, Lucy unsure what Makarov has been making in the months she's been away. He's keeps the most dangerous locked away in his shop, though she's never been sure where.
Lucy feels Romeo's hand on her arm, trying to jerk her away from the door as something inside the other room shatters, a muffled shout making her skin prickle nervously. She shakes him off, gritting her teeth as she shoves, knocking the door inwards without a second thought. It slams against the wall, a row of potion bottles rattling with the force, and Romeo swears behind her as Laxus is suddenly thrown against the wall beside them, crumpling to the ground.
The breath is ripped from her lungs when she sees him, head snapping around to follow his form as he barely avoids ramming into her. Blood drips from his mouth, a split on his lip and a nasty bruise forming along his jaw, angry red bordering on purple. He's still standing though, rattled, but not beaten.
Lightning flickers at his fingertips, an electric smell filling the air, static crawling through the room. The tips of her hair begin to rise, reacting to Laxus' magic, and Lucy can feel her own surging to the surface, adding chaos to the situation. She shoves it back, ignoring the crackling sound in her ears as she glances wildly around the room, searching for Natsu and Makarov.
She catches sight of Natsu's wild gaze a moment later, the feral look in his eyes making her chest go cold. He looks unfamiliar to her in that moment, lips curled back, teeth displayed threateningly towards her cousin. His knuckles are pale, fists clenched so tight his skin is strained, threatening to tear in two. Natsu's entire body trembles, a low, horrible sound ripping from deep in his chest.
For a moment she thinks he's about to lunge for Laxus, her cousin shaking himself off and forcing himself back to his feet. Again, electricity arcs from his hands, bolts of lighting extending around him in a type of shield. A burning smell curls through the air, smoke rising from Laxus' shoulders.
Romeo's hand curls around her, his fingers tugging insistently at hers as he shoves himself into the room beside her, caught between her and the door and having to peer over her head to see what's happened. "Lucy?" he snaps, nudging her roughly. "Lucy, what do we do?"
"I don't know," she sputters out, shaking her head. A part of her wants to get between them, end the fight before it can truly begin. So far not much has happened that she can see. A single hit, as far as she can tell. "I don't know," she repeats, glancing between them. Laxus will have a bruise, but neither of them are hurt badly.
She wants to keep it that way.
If Laxus uses his magic, she knows the fighting won't stop until one of them is half-dead. Lucy doesn't know what started the fight, but she has her guesses. Laxus has always had a smart mouth, biting and vicious, knowing just what to say to make people snap. He's always itched for fights, so much like the Berserks in that regard.
Her gaze snaps back to Natsu, seeing the pure rage in his expression, his eyes clouded with a bloodlust she hasn't seen for weeks, not since they first met. It makes her blood run cold and her heart stutters in her chest, her palms trembling slightly. This time, she doesn't dare get between them like she did with Jellal. If she did, she thinks he might tear her apart to get to Laxus. There's none of the protective instinct in his eyes that she's grown used to seeing, only a boiling rage, and she knows he's snapped.
"Natsu," she calls hesitantly, raising her arms placatingly and taking a step forward. He doesn't seem to hear her as she takes another step, Romeo slipping around her, heading towards Laxus. Her cousin's gaze snaps to her for only a moment, recognizing what she's doing, and his magic flares once again, electricity crackling through the room and making her hair stand on end. Natsu snarls at him. "Natsu, calm down."
He doesn't respond to her voice, and Lucy winces, unsure how to get through to him. This isn't like the other fights they've been in. There are too many people in the room, Romeo behind her and Makarov hidden somewhere in the chaotic space. She didn't see him when she first came in and prays to the Old Gods that he isn't hurt, but Lucy knows that despite his age, Makarov can handle nearly anything. His magic is something to marvel at.
Laxus finally shoves himself to his feet, rocking on the balls of his feet as lightning flashes through the room, blinding Lucy and Romeo. Her magic reacts without her meaning to, a gust of wind ripping through the room, nearly knocking her off her feet with the force of it. Bottles topple from shelves, glass splintering and liquids seeping onto the floor, bright colors mixing into something dark.
Confusion nips at her briefly. She was never that powerful before, and neither was Laxus all those months ago. Before, he could barely create a spark, a shock, and all she could do was ruffle hair and rustle papers. Though, she always did know what Laxus was capable of: a phantom pain arcs along her side, lightning flashing dangerously lose, blood on her hands, Laxus crying, mumbled words she could barely make out.
She shoves the memory back as far as she can, unable to breathe as it consumes her for a moment.
Suddenly, Natsu lunges for Laxus, teeth bared. Laxus throws up his arm, inky tattoos snaking along his wrist and forearm, a protective symbol of Frey, the Fae Goddess of strength. Romeo shouts something but the words are lost to her, drowned out by the roaring in her ears. She can't move, can barely breathe, can only watch as Natsu goes for the throat.
A vial is shattered between them, a waft of dark smoke filling the air. A putrid smell follows, something rotten. Lucy lurches back, stumbling into Romeo, and her brother coils an arm around her defensively, wary of the smoke. Laxus has a similar reaction to them, tripping backwards as the smoke surrounds him, coughing as he stumbles back against the wall. A row of jars on a shelf above him wobbles, but they don't fall.
Natsu's reaction is near violent as he throws himself backwards, yelping and shaking himself. The smoke merely follows him, seeming to stick to his skin despite his thrashing. He blinks rapidly, eyes glossy but clearer than when she walked in. Natsu's eyes meet hers through the haze and widen, his body going slack as he seems to realize what he did.
His expression turns apologetic, but Lucy turns away when Romeo begins coughing, the smoke drifting closer to them, spreading through the room at an alarming rate. Her eyes burn in response, and she chokes when she takes a breath.
A hiss sounds from behind her, low and irritated, and Lucy turns in time to see a flash of gray tail as Happy slips out the crack in the open door. The cat doesn't stay, doesn't look back, and Lucy doesn't blame him.
"Lucy!" someone snaps, voice loud over the sound of couching. Her head snaps up, eyes locking with a familiar set across the room. "Get the smoke out!" Through the haze she barely recognizes Makarov, his hand waving in front of his face to force the smoke away. His eyes water as he squints at her, expression frantic.
She doesn't move at first, too stunned by what's happened to properly move, but Makarov snaps at her a second time, demanding in tone, something she rarely hears from him. Lucy jolts out of her thoughts when Romeo tugs at her hand, barely managing her name between coughs, and she calls on her magic immediately.
It flares around them, the wind picking up. It gets in her mouth and in her eyes, but Lucy doesn't need to see to know what she'd doing. Makarov's workshop is as familiar to her as her own hands, organized chaos or not.
She forces her magic to surround the smoke, coiling it into a dark, squirming mass, almost alive as it thrashes against her hold. Her magic rushes through her veins, moving beneath her skin, and she shivers as a cold, phantom sensation runs along her spine. Quickly, she shoves the smoke back, forcing it towards the back door and the crack in the window, a hand sized hole from where Romeo once slipped on a spilled potion.
The smoke darkens to near black as it's compressed, the wind rushing around her, her ears ringing in response. The window rattles as some of the smoke slips through the crack, and the glass breaks further, splintering down the middle before shattering entirely, shards forced out with the smoke as Lucy concentrates her magic.
The smoke lingers for only a moment before dispersing, ripped away with the wind.
The room is silent for a long moment, broken only by the sound of coughing and greedy gasps of air. Laxus stands on shaky legs, glancing between her and Natsu, expression souring by the minute. Natsu stares back at Laxus for a moment too long, bristling slightly before glancing at her, seeming to calm himself. Lucy doubts another fight would happen so soon, but she can never be sure. Between the two men, Lucy thinks the shop might become something of a Wyrdfire, fast and deadly, no way to stop the forest from burning to the ground.
Lucy wheezes as the smoke clears from the room and shoves back her tangled mess of hair, blonde strands matted from the wind whipping around her. Behind her, Romeo continues to cough, squinting at Makarov over her shoulder, eyes watery from the wind. "What was that?" he gasps, glancing between the occupants of the room owlishly, dark hair a bird's nest atop his head.
Makarov sniffs from across the room, grinning at them a bit crookedly. Dark powder speckles his mustache, the tips stained black, and Lucy frowns back at him, concerned. She doesn't know what was in the potion, but she knows it couldn't have been good for him, especially not when it exploded near in his face.
"Tormine Powder," he answers Romeo, dusting himself off. Makarov frowns at his dirtied jacket, sliding it of his shoulder's disdainfully, but his vest and shirt aren't much better. Spots dot the white fabric in various places, and Makarov cringes when he sniffs at one. "And black salt from the south," he adds.
Laxus spits onto the floor, saliva blackened, with blood or the potion, she can't tell. "Poison," he snaps.
Lucy's frown only deepens. She doesn't know much about Tormine Powder, only that it's precious, ground from the Tormine plant found in Minstrel. It's toxic, but she doesn't know the extent. Black salt would account for the smell and color of the mixture. The Black Coast of Joya is famous for the foul smelling salts they create, the beaches murky because of it. She hasn't the faintest clue where Makarov obtained either ingredient, but she doubts she would want to.
Makarov is a good man and a good grandfather to the three of them, but Lucy knows better that to ask about some of his more unsavory trades. He always used to tell her that nothing lucrative can be obtained legally. Absently, her thoughts stray to the necklace at her throat, and she thinks he might be right.
"Not quite," Makarov tells them, coughing slightly. He glances around the room, taking in their disgusted and stupefied expressions with a grin. "Though the smell could certainly curdle milk," he tacks on, sniffing at himself with a sneer. He shakes his head, eyes narrowing as he glances around the room. A dozen potion bottles lay shattered on the floor, contents mixing together slowly, seeping into the wood floors. He sighs, muttering something to himself, and Lucy winces.
It'll cost him to replace the mixtures, and Lucy knows his potions don't come cheap to make or buy.
She glances at Laxus off to her left and he looks near guilty, shame in his eyes, his shoulders drooping. He never has liked to cause trouble for Makarov, not with his work. Laxus always thought he needed to be the responsible one, the adult out of the three, though he was hardly older than Lucy by three years. He has his childish side, of course, but it never involved ruining Makarov's work.
Laxus catches her eye and turns away stiffly, body tensing as he feels her gaze on him.
A rush of anger floods through Lucy when he ignores her. She has no idea what he was thinking provoking a Berserk. He would have had to say something particularly bad to get Natsu to snap the way he did, and she just doesn't understand why he would do something like that. She knows he's angry about everything that's happened, but he could have been seriously hurt. He could have gotten Makarov or Romeo hurt, and that's something she can't ignore.
"How did you know it would work?" Romeo sputters, eyes wide as he stares at Makarov, as if trying to decide whether or not the old man has finally lost it. Lucy stopped asking herself that question ages ago, accepting that Makarov was a bit mad. A great inventor and potions master, but utterly mad at times.
In response to the question, Makarov merely grins.
Lucy stalks over to Laxus, hands shaking as she curls them into fists, rage rippling through her so hot she wonders if he can feel it as she comes to stand next to him, Laxus tensing, though he refuses to look at her. "Laxus," she snaps at him, confused and angry and simply not sure what to think, "what in the Seven Realms of Frell—"
He sneers at her, lips curving back as his head snaps in her direction, cutting her off abruptly. "Me?" he snarls back at her, rising to his full height and towering over her. Lucy doesn't flinch back, unafraid of his scare tactic. It only makes her angrier to see him look down at her, as if he was in the right. "Why don't you ask your Berserker what he did."
Lucy starts to snap back at him, tell him that she knows Natsu didn't start this, that she knows Laxus had to have said something first, but Laxus's gaze slips to her arm and the scars on her shoulder. Lucy's skin prickles, her eyes widening in understanding, but that doesn't make it right.
"Enough," she manages to say, taking a step away from him, jaw clenching tight as she swallows down a bitter retort.
Laxus shakes his head, laughing sarcastically, the sound biting. "First he hurts you and now—"
"I said that's enough," Lucy barks at him, bristling. Laxus looks like he wants to keep arguing, though his magic doesn't rise to the surface. "I don't care who started it," Lucy tells him seriously, practically daring him to pick a fight with her. "Just knock it off."
Laxus nods, slow, his lips pressing into a thin, unimpressed line. He swallows, then shakes his head, a breathy sound leaving him, almost a snort, but not quite. "You're unbelievable," he tells her, glaring. Laxus shoves passed her suddenly, shoulder knocking into her so hard she stumbles to the side. Lucy doesn't watch him leave, jolting when the door slams shut behind him.
It could have been worse, she knows. They could have fought. They could have argued. They could have torn each other to pieces with their words, saying things they would regret come the next morning. If anything, she would call the spat tame compared to others they've had, but something about the quiet makes her stomach twist painfully. She can handle the screaming and the fights, but something about this feels wrong.
Lucy sighs her eyes squeezing shut tightly. Vaguely, she hears Romeo and Makarov muttering to each other, though she doesn't bother to listen in. It's either about her and Laxus or Makarov's concoction, and she has no interest in hearing about one or the other.
Slow footsteps sound in the room, a familiar presence hovering beside her, and Lucy forces her eyes open again, looking up at Natsu with a smile that doesn't begin to reach her eyes. He doesn't smile back at her, he barely meets her gaze, and Lucy lets her lips drop into a frown, not liking the closed up expression on his face. There's something cold about it, icy almost. Natsu has always been so expressive and it just doesn't seem right to see him like that.
Natsu wets his lips, still avoiding her gaze, and Lucy has no idea what she's supposed to say in this moment. With Laxus it's easy. She's known him her entire life, there's nothing left to surprise her anymore. She can handle his outbursts and bite back twice as hard. With Natsu she simply doesn't know how to react sometimes.
"I didn't—" he starts, but cuts himself off quickly. His teeth clack together, his fingers curling and uncurling, as if he doesn't know what to do with his hands. Natsu glances up at her, shifting on his feet.
Lucy nods, taking a deep breath. "I know," she tells him, "I know." He didn't mean to, but he did. She sighs, carding her fingers through her hair. They catch on a snarl, and she drops her hand back to her side, glancing around the messy shop before turning back to Natsu. "Are you okay?" He doesn't look injured, but she knows how he is.
"Yeah." He swallows, wetting his lips. "Yeah, I'm…" he trails off and doesn't finish, shaking his head. He suddenly looks very tired. Slowly, Natsu reaches out for her, fingertips barely grazing her cheek before he stops suddenly, going rigid. Lucy frowns, following his gaze to his hand, and inhales sharply when she sees his split knuckles, blood leaking down his fingers, the skin there bruising to the same color as the one of Laxus' jaw. "I'm gonna take a walk," Natsu tells her suddenly.
She tries not to think about how hard he must have hit Laxus for his hand to bruise like that, but the words don't leave her mouth.
Natsu is out the back door before she can stop him, gone like the smoke from the potion, his name heavy on her tongue. She wants to go after him, but hesitates, knowing he needs time. That's what Makarov told her, they all just need time. It's been too much too fast.
She stays rooted in her spot, staring down at the broken glass around her feet, shards digging into her bare skin, enough to draw blood, but hopefully not too deep. Lucy can't feel the soles of her feet, everything numb after what's happened. It was over so quickly, but something about it feels wrong, drown out, and though it's still early, Lucy suddenly feels exhausted.
A hand finds hers, Romeo leaning in close to her ear. "Want me to keep an eye on Laxus?" he asks, so soft she barely hears him. He squeezes her fingers, head knocking against hers affectionately, but it isn't enough to drag a smile from her.
"Please," she whispers back.
Romeo nods, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, fingers tightening around hers for only a moment. He releases her slowly, lingering as if she might change her mind, but eventually he leaves her, mumbling something to Makarov as he goes, the door closing softly behind him, the click louder than it should be in the too quiet house.
A few moments pass where the room is utterly silent, almost deafeningly so. Lucy forces herself to turn around, assessing the damage. It isn't nearly as bad as she was expecting. A few broken bottles and jars, glass on the floor, but it doesn't look much worse than it always does. Makarov has never been one to keep the shop clean, and if Lucy didn't know better she could almost fool herself into believing nothing happened.
"What happened?" she asks Makarov, ambling over to his desk. She hops onto it, looking down at her feet with a wince. Makarov barely reacts to her voice, his gaze still surveying the room. Lucy crosses one leg over the other, noticing blood on her heels, and sighs as she twists to begin picking at the shards.
"You know how Laxus is," Makarov tells her, shrugging slightly. He stoops to lift a cracked bottle from the floor, frowning at it. "He came in, noticed your friend. Said some slur from Pergrande, Frey knows where he heard it." Makarov shakes his head, straightening and walking over to her. He places the bottle beside her, Lucy pausing in her work. Makarov flashes her a smile. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Lucy Dear."
She huffs, shaking her head and grimacing when she pulls a short shard from her heel. "How can I not?" She glances up at him, unsure if she truly wants an answer or not. Makarov has tonics for nearly everything. She's sure there's something there to make everything disappear, but she doesn't want that. She's seen what potions can do to people, how they lose all common sense and become unlike themselves.
"Things are different," he reminds her, sighing as he places a hand on her knee. He gives her a reassuring pat, frowning at the thin cuts on her feet. "It'll take time for you all to adjust."
Lucy flinches as he mentions her as well, but doesn't argue. "I know." She closes her eyes for a moment, drinking in the silence. "I just wish…" Lucy can't bring herself to finish, unsure what she wants to say. That things were normal again? That they could all get along? That none of them had lost someone to the Berserks and so Laxus wouldn't hate Natsu on principle alone?
"Don't we all?" Makarov asks. He quirks a brow at her, squeezing her knee once before backing away.
They lapse into silence for several minutes, Makarov cleaning up broken glass and Lucy cleaning the cuts on her feet, holding a bloody rag to her skin, one of Makarov's potions soaking the cloth to help heal the cuts. Lucy catches sight of a familiar object resting beside her, pulsing hungrily. "Did you find anything out about the collars?" she asks, anything to make conversation, though she doubts he's learned anything she didn't already know. There hasn't been much time to learn anything at all.
Instead of answering her, Makarov asks his own question. "What was he like when you first met?" Lucy pauses in her work, staring at his back curiously. Makarov either doesn't notice or doesn't care, inspecting a broken bottle instead. "When you fought him," he clarifies.
Lucy shrugs, trying to picture how he was, but all she can remember is blood and fangs, his hands at her throat. She remembers him being cold, not in touch, but in the way he acted, detached. There was no pleasure in hurting her, only a blankness. "Unresponsive" she settles on, pursing her lips. "Angry. He tossed me around. Bite me."
Makarov nods along with her words. "He could smell it." He glances back at her. "The magic in your blood," he clarifies.
She smiles back at him faintly, remembering Natsu's words form months ago. "He said it smells like stardust," she whispers, voice carrying through the cluttered space.
"I don't know what you expected me to learn, Lucy," he tells her softly, sighing as he looks at her, expression softening. "It is as you said. Dark magic. A curse rather than a blessing." He strokes his mustache, lips pursed, but says nothing else.
Lucy sighs in frustration. "But how?" she snaps. "Only Fae can cast curses like this." She stares down at the collar in disgust, the red gem gleaming mockingly. "Even if the Centaris had the blade and could steal magic they couldn't…"
"They couldn't place a curse, I know," Makarov finishes for her.
Lucy's fingers hover over the glinting gold. "It doesn't make sense," she whispers.
AN: Almost caught up. I'm not making edits on Arc Two unless noted at the top of the chapter. There's really not much I feel the need to change, aside from a few lines and character mentions. A completely new chapter will either be out this Saturday (June 2) or the next Saturday, as I'm restructuring the arc and trying to remember exactly what I was trying to do with it.