Chapter Fifteen

After an extremely frustratingly hard night of almost no sleep, we were up and packed barely an hour past dawn. I was fucking exhausted but also eager to get started. The mountain was close, I could smell it. I didn't know how long it would take us to reach the top but I wanted this trip to be fucking over. I wanted to get Lucy Aquarius back, kick this darkness jerk's ass, save the world and find a proper fucking bed so I could do all the deliciously naughty things I could think of to the celestial mage.

We headed out, pairing off, I was just about to go take a spot next to Lucy, hoping we could sneak away for a few stolen kisses while the others were distracted when that fucking kitty cat popped up next to her in a flash of yellow light.

"Princess!" He shouted.

"Loke!" Erza was shocked at the sight of the spirit, but obviously pleased. "Long time no see! How are you?" He swept the red head a stupid little bow and turned back to Blondie.

"Lucy, I'm glad you're close."

"Loke," she was concerned and I had to remind myself that they were friends and that burning jealousy in my gut was not cool. "What's wrong?" It wasn't until she said that that I saw how pale and scared he looked. Something was up in the Celestial world that had the Lion spirit absolutely terrified.

"Princess," he started, grabbing her hand. "You have to– Why do you smell different?"
"What?" Then he fucking sniffed her. And looked dead at me. I could see his eyes flashing beneath his glasses. I had no idea how he could smell me on her still, we hadn't even gotten very far. But I wasn't about to be intimidated by a fucking pussycat that didn't even have a shot with her. I met his eyes and gave him my best Almighty Sting Eucliffe smirk. The fucker practically hissed at me.

"Loke!" Lucy shook him, looking incredibly embarrassed. That's when I noticed everyone staring at us. Rogue looked impressed, Minerva looked happy. Everyone else looked awkward and uncomfortable. My smirk didn't move a bit.

"Loke, what is going on!? And stop sniffing me!" She gave him a hard shove. Reluctantly he looked away from me and back to her.

"Lucy, the darkness, it's coming. Sooner than we thought."

"What?" I asked, "How do you know?" The asshole straight up ignored me and Gray repeated the question. This time he answered. Dick.

"We can sense him. He swallows all light in its path, including the starlight. Luckily, he doesn't have the key yet so he can't spread his power too far too fast. But the mage with this power, he's….he's strong guys. He can do some damage, even without enacting Oblivion."

"Which direction?" I asked. There was a long pause why everyone waited for the answer.

"Which direction?" Erza sighed.

"East." That little fucker. "He's a few miles away still, you have a day head start maybe, no more."

Then with one more murderous glance thrown my way he disappeared back through his gate with a little flutter of glittering light.

"Fuck," I said. "What an asshole." Lucy smacked my arm. Whatever.

"Let's move out," said Jellal and we all filed out after him.

I positioned the exceeds above us so they could keep an eye to the east of us above the trees. I had Gray walk parallel to us 30 paces to the right of us, hidden in the tree line, Rogue 30 paces to the left. I figured if the darkness came from that direction he'd probably sense it before it was on top of us. Gray could throw up a huge wall of ice and give us time to make our escape. Jellal brought up the rear and I was in the lead. I had the girls in the middle. No, not for the reason you think. Yes I was being overprotective. But the darkness mage, whoever he was, had been targeting Lucy first and foremost. She'd be target number one. After her, they'd have to eliminate Yukino next, she was the only other one who could make a contract with Aquarius making the key useless for the potion. Minerva and Juvia were to stick to their sides like glue. I wasn't taking any chances.

We made it to the base of Mount Opasnyy quickly enough, we didn't stop for any breaks, just went straight there. The sun was just setting when we found a small goat path leading up the mountain. Normally I would've stopped to make camp but I wasn't taking any chances. Our enemy was too close. It was going to be night soon and I figured anyone whose power was literally just darkness was likely gonna be more powerful at night. We had to make it a little ways up the mountain before we stopped.

No one was happy about it but they knew I was right. Rogue took the lead with Lucy, then came Yukino with Minerva and Erza with Wendy. I walked with Juvia and Gray and Jellal brought up the rear. The path was narrow, not enough room for more than two people to walk side by side. I was glad Gray was behind us, he froze the already cold ground even more and Juvia covered it with water as we walked, it froze into a solid piece of ice behind us making it harder for anyone to follow us. Our enemy would have to either fly up the mountain or move slowly and cautiously. Either we'd see him coming or he'd be too far behind us to stop us.

We reached the end of the path, from here we'd have to trek through about a foot of snow. Night had fully fallen and we needed to stop and make camp. There was no helping it. We couldn't risk the treacherous mountain at night. We searched around for a while looking for a good spot but the snow was too deep everywhere we looked. Finally, Lucy pulled out a key. "Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

"Hello, Princess! Did you and Master Sting want to use my Shibari ropes? They're from the Celestial realm so they're very durable." Gods I loved this maid. Lucy turned the brightest shade of pink I've ever seen. I think the snow around her was gonna melt from the heat of her embarrassment. I didn't even try to hide my laughter.

"Virgo?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"Shut up."

"Yes, Princess."

"I need you to dig through this snow a little bit, just til you hit the ground and just wide enough for us to set up camp," Lucy instructed her.
"Yes, Princess. Hi, Master Sting."
"Hello, Virgo," I smirked at the pink haired spirit.

"Virgo!"

"Right away, Princess."

While Virgo was hard at work for approximately 2 seconds, I asked Gray to set up some defenses for us out of ice. I didn't want him to use up all his magic power, but we were too open here. We needed some defensible positions or we could be taken by surprise from all sides. The rest of us set up our tents. There'd be no fire tonight, it would make us too easy to spot. I hadn't had a chance to speak to Lucy at all and there was no chance for privacy in a place like this. I had to satisfy myself with nothing more than a quick squeeze of her hand and a muttered good night. Then we separated to our respective tents and settled in for a cold night.

We'd been climbing this gods forsaken mountain for three days now. We were all tired, miserable, and freezing, well everyone except Gray. He wasn't wearing any pants and I was sure the only reason he still had his coat on was because Juvia reminded him it was a gift from Virgo and it'd be rude if he lost it. Luckily we hadn't seen any sign of our enemy and we'd been looking. The exceeds took turns scouting from the sky, hoping to spot the enemy mage before they spotted us.

My mind was a jumble of worry and fear. I was so scared that I wasn't going to make it in time. That I brought all my friends all this way and we'd be too late. Not only would Aquarius' key be lost to me forever, it'd be used in a world ending curse and I'd have to watch everyone I cared about be swallowed up by the darkness. Well…almost everyone. Natau, I wish you were here. I'd been pretty good about keeping the salmon haired pyro off mind. It hadn't been as difficult as I thought, not with Sting around. Even when he did something so similar to things Natsu did I didn't even realize it until I replayed the scene later. Maybe the others were right. Maybe I didn't love Natsu like I thought I did. Maybe I could get over it, move on, be happy. Or maybe I was just using Sting as a rebound. Something to temporarily fill the void Natsu left in my life.

I couldn't be sure, and that worried me too. I wanted to believe I liked Sting for Sting, not because I couldn't have Natsu. But how could I really know when Natsu wasn't around? Maybe he'd come back and I'd tell Sting it was over, whatever it was. I hoped not, part of me didn't want to test it. I was enjoying getting to know him, walking with him, fighting with him…kissing him. Gods could that lightbulb kiss. I wondered if it was his own magic power I felt crackling against my skin every time he touched me. Whatever it was, I liked it. Made me wonder where else on my body he could make me feel that. Ok Miss Heartfilia, get your mind out of the gutter now.

I was already blushing and I couldn't help but think back to that night in the forest. I wondered what would have happened if Lector hadn't interrupted us. I wondered if I was glad he had interrupted us or not. I couldn't deny how good it felt lying there with him on top of me. His lips gliding down my neck, his hands caressing my body. I shivered.

"Hey, Blondie," speak of the blond devil. "You cold?" He didn't wait for me to answer, instead I felt him put his arm around me and pull me into his warmth. I didn't mind. I liked being this close to him, I felt…safe.

"Better?" He asked.

"Better," I smiled.

We walked like that for a few minutes until Rogue called out to Sting.

"Hey, Sting!"

"Yeah?" He seemed annoyed, I giggled. He shot me an annoyed sidelong glance, but I saw the smile in his eyes.

"I think we should send some scouts ahead, see if there's any surprises over that ridge." We followed the direction he pointed in and saw what he meant. There was a large rocky outcropping about half a mile ahead of us. It'd be a perfect place for an ambush or even just a careless accident.

"Alright," Sting was nodding to himself, clearly thinking about his options. I liked watching him think about strategy, it was a refreshing change of pace from what I was used to. I knew Sting could fuck shit up with the best of them. His destructive power was kind of incredible, but I couldn't help but admire how restrained he was most of the time. You'd expect him to flaunt his strength and go into situations with magic blazing, but he was much more strategic than that. Like with the ice trap on the goat path or the blockades he had Gray set up. I don't think I would have thought of that, I knew Natsu wouldn't have. I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. It wasn't fair to compare them.

"I'll have Lector fly me over to check it out," he decided. "Rogue, you wann–"

"I'll walk with Lucy," Gray interrupted. For whatever reason it didn't seem like Sting liked that idea. Then his eyes landed on Juvia and he gave a tight nod. My gods, I thought, is he jealous?

"Lector!" He called to the little speck of red flying above us. He held up his hands and flashed some light from his palms three times. It must have been a signal because Lector was dive bombing us only a second later.

"Sup, Sting?" He asked, coming to a gliding stop, flinging snow in an arch behind him.
"Can you fly me over that ridge to check it out?"

"Hell yeah!" He said, excited. Then he grabbed the back of Sting's coat and took off.

I stood there for a few seconds, watching them fly away. Then Gray was at my side, nudging me with his shoulder. I smiled at him and we set off. We walked in silence for a bit towards the direction Sting and Lector disappeared and for a few minutes it felt like old times. Like we'd just taken a job on Mount Hekabe, Team Natsu together again! Almost….

"Hey, uh…Lucy?"

"Hmmm?"

"You wanna tell me what's up?" His question gave me pause. Honestly, no, no I did not want to tell him what's up. But after Loke's ridiculous little display, the constant touches and chaste kisses Sting had been giving me not caring who saw, and the stupid smile I was sure was on my face every time he even looked at me, maybe I did owe Gray a bit of an explanation.

"Well…I don't know," I said honestly. I still really didn't have a clue what we were doing.

"Are you…in love with him?" Wow, Gray. Straight to the point.

"Are you in love with Juvia?" I challenged, trying to turn the tables.

"Yes," he said simply. "Close your mouth, Lucy, before something lands in there." I snorted but did snap my mouth shut.

"Sorry," I laughed. "Just never thought I'd hear you admit that."

"Yeah," he huffed out. "It took me a while to get there and be honest with myself."
"Well," I started. "How did you get there?"
He shrugged, hands deep in his pockets. "I'm not really sure. I guess I was always into her, if I'm honest. I just didn't really think I was good enough."
"Oh, Gray," I placed my hand on his arm and squeezed sympathetically. "That's not true."
"No, Lucy. It was true. I was kind of a jerk, only ever really caring about myself. Angry all the time at everything I had lost and afraid I was gonna lose her too."

"What changed?" It was probably none of my business, but he brought it up. Besides, I'd rather talk about his love life than my own.

"Tartaros," he said flatly.

"Oh," I looked down, I could feel the tears starting to form and I didn't want him to see. "Yeah, I guess it changed a lot huh?"
"Yeah, and when I…" he swallowed before continuing. "When I met my dad, lost my dad…Juvia was there for me. She comforted me. She didn't even ask for anything in return. In fact," he chuckled. "She said she didn't deserve to love me. I mean, can you imagine?"
"No," I laughed. I could literally not imagine Juvia giving up on her love for Gray, it was like the core part of her personality.

"Well, she stuck by my side after Fairy Tail disbanded. She didn't push me or anything, she was just there. For whatever I needed. Then one day I was getting ready to do this undercover thing for Crime Sorciere, infiltrating some dark guild worshiping Zeref, and I wasn't even gonna tell her about it. I was just gonna leave."

"Did you?" He shook his head.

"I couldn't. I had my shit ready and I was gonna leave before she even woke up. But I saw her sleeping there, she had a little smile on her face. Then she said my name. She was thinking about me all the time. Even in her sleep. How could I be so selfish and just walk out on her?"

"So what happened?" I never thought Gray would be this sensitive, at least not be open about it. I was curious to hear what happened next.

"I just sat there, by her bed, watching her sleep," his face flushed as he admitted that. "Creepy, I know."

"Romantic," I corrected him.

"Right," he said laughingly. "Well when she woke up I told her all about the mission, how I was gonna help people, with or without a guild, but I wouldn't do it without her. So," he shrugged. "She came with me and she probably helped me finish the mission in like half the time I would have on my own."

"Yeah, Juvia's always reliable."

"More than that, she's so strong, and smart and so...caring." He smiled as he thought about her. It was a good look on him; love.

"Anyway," he finished. "I haven't left her side since we left Magnolia. I finally realized that even if I didn't deserve her as I was, I could make her happy and she made me better. Her love helped me be better. Helped me deserve her." I don't know when it happened, but I could feel tears on my cheeks, freezing in the frigid air. Gray was a good friend, he pretended not to notice.

"Now," he said. "Your turn."

I let out a huge sigh at that. I guess he was right. He shared, I owed him now.

"I don't really know where to start," I confessed.
"Natsu," he said simply. I nodded and took a deep, steadying breath. I could do this, Gray would get it.

"Well, you know," I began. "He left before the master disbanded the guild. I didn't get a chance to tell him anything, even about Aquarius."
"Why didn't you say anything? I didn't even know about it until we got the letter."
"I'm not sure," I said, shaking my head. "I think, maybe I didn't want to impose on any of you. It felt like we had all lost so much, the dragons, the guild hall, your father, I thought it would be selfish of me to bring it up."
"Lucy," I was surprised to hear the disappointment in his voice. "It's never selfish to share your grief with friends. We've got your back, always."

"I know," I admitted. "And I was going to tell you guys everything, about how she sacrificed herself to save us from Alegria. But by the time I'd worked out what I was gonna say, Natsu had left and then the guild disbanded. There was just so much going on."
"Why did he leave?" He asked.

"He said to get stronger." Gray scoffed at that. "Like he needed to go solo to do that? I've gotten stronger and I was with Juvia."

"It's not the same, Gray."

"How?" I didn't really have an answer to that.

"Well–"

"No, Lucy." He cut me off. "It is exactly the same. He lost his dad, I lost mine. You lost Aquarius and Juvia thought it was her fault my dad was dead. We were all hurt and traumatized. We all wanted to get stronger so we'd never feel a loss like that again. But he was the one that left. We all would have stayed if the guild hadn't disbanded."

"I know," I said, the tears were flowing a little more freely now. I'd hoped this conversation would end soon, I didn't want Sting to come back and see us. But I hadn't spotted him flying back yet.

"I know, we all lost a lot. But, you had Juvia."
"And Natsu had you." I squirmed uncomfortably at that suggestion. He was right, Natsu did have me in more ways than he even knew. But maybe I wasn't enough.

"And Sting?" He asked. "How the fuck did that happen?" It felt good to laugh after so many tears.

"I don't know, I don't know that there even is a thing happening." I wiped the tears from my face, calmer now.
"Oh no, there's a thing. Trust me," he smirked. "I've seen the way he looks at you, reminds me of Juvia, only a little less manic." We laughed at that, yeah, Juvia could be intense.

"I don't know what to do, Gray," I confessed. "After Tartaros I was going to tell Natsu, everything."
"That you…loved him?" He asked, looking a little uncomfortable.
"Yeah," I managed to squeak out the word.

"But?"

"But he was gone right when I got the courage. And then the guild disbanded and then everyone left. I was all alone and didn't know what to do. That's when I started working with Sorcerer's Weekly and started training with Loke. I was just gonna bide my time until he came back and we could…be together. I didn't expect….Sting to happen."

"Do you love him?" He asked again, but I wasn't sure which 'him' he was talking about.
"I love Natsu," I said firmly. It was still true, I did love him. But maybe I wasn't in love anymore. Can a person really fall out of love? Or was I just being distracted by Sting so I wasn't noticing it as much anymore?

"And Sting?"

I hesitated for a moment, gathering my thoughts, unsure how to put my feelings into words. Finally, "Sting respects me. Shocking, I know, considering his rep. But he does, he respects my choices, my feelings, my strength. And it feels nice…to have that…trust."

Gray nodded, looking thoughtful. It looked like he was about to say more when a shout from behind us got our attention. We both turned, immediately taking defensive positions.

"Look!" Yukino was pointing to the sky behind us and I could see Lector flying as fast as his little wings could carry him. He dropped out of the sky and landed in my open arms.

"Lucy!" He said, excited. "Lucy we found it!"

Once we got over the ridge, I had Lector land us on the flat plane, I could see the mountain's peak just a little ahead of us. I was surprised we had been this close. I let go of the tight rein I kept on my senses, focusing my ears and my nose, straining for any sound or smell that might indicate danger. When I was sure there was no one else around we started walking toward the peak. So far it looked safe for everyone, but I just wanted to take a quick look around and see if I could find anything helpful. That's when I noticed the cave opening on the side of the mountain, next to a narrow ledge.

Lector flew us directly into the cave, I took one look around and knew we were in the right place. The walls were decorated in a primitive sort of painting. Like a giant mural. The left side was a bunch of dots randomly splattered all over the cave wall. Only…when I looked closer it didn't look random at all. Thank gods I paid attention when Lucy talked, mostly. Because my eyes tracked down the familiar pattern of Aquarius. I could see the crooked little diamond of her urn. I put my finger on it and traced the whole figure, remembering when Lucy traced the path on the ship's deck.

"Sting! Look!" Lector pulled on my coat and I tore my eyes off the stars to see what he needed.

"What's up, buddy?" He just pointed at the other side of the painting. Next to the drawing of stars there was a painting of a giant tree, roots exposed. "The tree of heaven," I said.

"Yeah, and look," he pointed a little further to the side and I saw a figure painted in blue. It looked like a person, but all light blue, almost white, with little cracks all over them. The left half of their body looked…faded. Like it was dissolving into the little swirls falling away from it's main body.

"What the…." My voice trailed off as my eyes landed on the final piece of the intricate painting. It looked at first like a giant blob of black, it didn't really have a shape or a form to it. But when I looked closer I could see little designs under the paint, just faintly lighter than the deep black surrounding them. They looked like people. Dozens and dozens of people drowned in blackness.

"Lector," I said.

"Yeah, Sting?" He sounded scared, and I hated hearing that in his voice. But I didn't have time to comfort him like he would need.

"Go get Lucy and the others. Tell them what we found."

"But, Sting, what about you?" He rushed over to me and wrapped his little arms around my leg.

"Hey," I leaned down to give him a gentle pat. "Don't worry about me, little buddy. I've got my light, remember?" I let my magic power course through me, lighting up my skin in a quick pulse, illuminating the whole chamber. "I'll be fine," I tried to sound reassuring. "I'm going to guard the cave. Bring the other's quick as you can."

"Right!" And he took off like a bullet. I walked to the mouth of the cave and took a seat on the little ledge. I'd never admit this out loud, but the place was creeping me out. So I settled in to wait for the others, my eyes scanning the ridge and surrounding areas, hoping I wouldn't spot a blotch of black against the white snow.

A/N: So I just noticed that my ine breaks for when we switch POVs is not in any of my previous chapters. So kudos to all of you who made it this far without giving up, I know now it was confusing. I'm going back and editing the posted chapters to make sure those are included and I've made sure that all future chapters have them. Sorry about that guys! Let me know your thoughts! Any reviews are appreciated and thank you thank you to all those who have liked/favorited and followed!