Who's excited for this chapter? This was a lot of fun to write because of how it catalyzes the Natsu and Lucy's relationship and brings them back into the forefront. IMHO, these two have something really special, and that connection is one of my favorite aspects of Nalu.
That was a very fluffy sentiment, but this chapter is less so. We saw what Juvia's concoction did to Bora... If that sort of thing upsets you, especially with our girl Lucy on the receiving end, then read with caution.
Irina: Natsu is very passionate, but his playful side balances that, and I love that about him. In this instance, we're going to get the all-or-nothing, no-holds-barred part of Natsu because we're going to hit him where it hurts. As for Juvia, good eye for noticing her brief moment of conflict. She has lost sight of why she started down this path to begin with. The poor, sad girl from chapter 1 is probably completely gone, and I think it's clearer now than ever. (Someday I'll play with the idea of redemption in a story, but not yet.) Thanks again!
- K. Chandler
Juvia couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips as Lucy writhed on the floor. She was like a worm to be trod underfoot.
She was embarrassed to admit it, even to herself, but watching Lucy suffer brought Juvia no small amount of pleasure. Why shouldn't it? After all that Lucy had done to hurt her, this was only fair.
Every scream, every choked sob, every pained moan that tore from Lucy's throat was punishment for things that Lucy had done. It was like a symphony of justice. Juvia wanted to etch that memory into her mind forever.
So Juvia watched. Watched as Lucy suffered. Watched as the poison ravaged her, slowly and painfully. Watched as she got what she deserved. Juvia soaked it in like a towel sopping up a puddle.
Of course, her enjoyment was marred when she looked away from the show that Lucy was putting on. On the wall of the sitting room was something that made Juvia snarl.
It was one of the paintings depicting Gray and his friends. A true work of art, lifelike and accurate. Juvia had commissioned it before she had the courage to admit what a hinderance Lucy's presence was. But no more.
If she could fix real life, fixing the painting would be no trouble at all.
Juvia stepped over Lucy's convulsing body to reach the tea service that one of the servants delivered. Juvia flipped the entire tray, sending ceramic and scalding liquid to the floor. The teapot shattered and tea soaked the carpet.
Lucy keened at the noise. Loud noises seemed to make Lucy thrash more violently, her arms and legs at the mercy of her own muscles.
Juvia winced. There was no way that wasn't heard by one of the servants. She needed to work quickly to avoid discovery.
Gripping one of the porcelain shards, Juvia charged the painting.
Lucy didn't belong by Gray's side. Juvia did.
Juvia slashed at the painting with as much strength as she could muster. When she was finished, Juvia took a step back, nodding in approval.
"Much better," she said. Her hand throbbed where the broken porcelain had sliced into her palm.
But before she could exit, Juvia's eyes fell on another painting above the fireplace, and another across the room. The painted Lucys sneered at her from the walls, their ugly faces mocking Juvia's efforts.
Juvia slashed blindly, scraping at dried paint, cutting through canvas, removing the unwanted figure from all the paintings.
Natsu always knew when something was wrong.
When they were younger, Natsu would be alerted to skinned knees and broken bones. As they got older, his intuition had grown to include illnesses and broken hearts. It didn't matter the distance or the type of trouble. From the time Lucy had contracted scarlet fever when they were eleven to the time she had broken her ankle and two ribs being thrown from her horse last year, at the first sign of trouble, Natsu knew.
The same sinking feeling had summoned him after their fight, so he had rushed to Isvan. Now, that anxious feeling had taken residence in the pit of Natsu's stomach again.
Natsu hurried back, but Lucy wasn't where he had left her. She wasn't in the library or the courtyard either. Why couldn't he find her?
Natsu's anxiety grew as he wandered the halls, trying to figure out where she'd be. He wasn't sure what brought him to the first floor. This was where Gray and senior members of his retinue entertained guests. He and Lucy wouldn't have had guests to meet with, so there was no reason for her to be there, right?
He was halfway down the hall when he heard it, his sharp hearing detecting a crash. Then, faintly, the sound of a girl sobbing, almost as if in pain. But not just any girl.
"Lucy?" Natsu's heart leapt into his throat as he ran toward the sound.
Opposite from him, a hunched figure teetered toward him at a fast clip. As he got closer, he could tell that it was an old beggar woman, moving far faster than he thought possible. Natsu had to duck out of the way to avoid being run over.
Who was she? What was she doing here?
Something about her just wasn't right, and Natsu was tempted to chase after her.
No, he had to find Lucy!
Natsu followed the sound of the cries all the way to the sitting room. He yanked the door open, nearly tearing it from its hinges in his haste.
Lucy's broken moans filled the air, sounding like a mix between a sob and a choked scream. Lucy was on the floor, lying amid the wreckage of a shattered tea set.
"Lucy!" Natsu cried, scrambling to her side, heedless of the broken porcelain.
As if responding to the sound of his voice, Lucy's body jerked. Her arms and legs spasmed wildly, arching her back so far that Natsu feared she'd snap in half. A guttural cry tore from her throat, easily the most awful sound that Natsu had ever heard.
Natsu vaulted the back of the sofa and ran for the door. "Wendy? Wendy!" he hollered, his voice echoing down the hall. "Somebody send for Wendy!"
Should he get Wendy himself? But he couldn't leave Lucy! Luckily, one of the palace servants had heard his shouting, abandoning a basket of laundry to deliver his message. Once Natsu was sure that Wendy was on her way, he returned to Lucy's side.
Violent convulsions racked Lucy's small frame, her body bending in ways that no human should.
"Na'su," she gasped, her eyes filled with tears.
Natsu pinned her down, pulling her away from the debris on the floor. Lucy whimpered at his touch, the convulsions worsening. She sobbed, straining against his hold.
"Sorry. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Natsu tightened his arms around her, his heart heavy. He could see the twisted set of her face, flushed red from the exertion. The grimace looked wrong on her soft features. Her muscles were tight, but he could feel them bulging and slithering under his fingers. Natsu felt sick to his stomach.
"Highness, I'm here! What happened?" Wendy asked, her normally soft voice sharp with urgency when she burst into the room.
"I don't know," Natsu said. "Where are you going?!"
"Supplies," Wendy said. "Be right back. Hold her still."
"That's what I've been trying to do!" Natsu shouted after her.
Nothing he did was helping. Natsu tightened his arms around Lucy's frail frame, every pained tremor tearing at his own heart.
Who could have done such a thing? And why wasn't he here to stop it? He didn't protect Lucy any better than Gray had.
"I've got you. I've got you, Lucy," he whispered, cupping her sweaty face.
There was no recognition in her eyes. Was she still lucid? Or was she too far gone?
Finally, Wendy returned with a vial of a dark, viscous fluid clutched in her small palm.
"She needs to drink this," Wendy said.
"What is that junk?" Natsu asked, making a face at the disgusting sludge.
"It's a carbon tincture. It'll bind to the poison and stop it from being absorbed into her body."
"If you're sure…" Natsu said.
"I'll try to heal the worst of the damage with my magic, but it won't matter if the poison's still there," Wendy said.
Magic? Natsu's stomach dropped. Wendy never used her magic unless the situation was dire.
"Tell me what to do," he whispered. "I'll do anything… as long as it saves her."
"This won't be pleasant." Wendy handed Natsu the tincture, explaining how to administer it.
Natsu nodded sharply. Keeping one arm around Lucy to keep her still, Natsu took the vial in his other hand, uncorking it with his teeth.
"Shh. It's okay. It's okay…" he said.
With her head cradled against his shoulder, Natsu tipped the contents of the vial into Lucy's open mouth. She gagged, but Natsu held her jaw shut to keep her from spitting it out.
Lucy jerked, heaving. She lurched forward with a moan as her stomach rebelled. There was a horrible choking noise as Lucy gagged. Ichor gushed from her parted lips and dribbled down her chin.
Wendy was pale with wide-eyed horror. "She's choking! Turn her on her side. Quick!"
Natsu repositioned Lucy, her flailing limbs almost bashed him in the jaw as she convulsed. With a silent apology, he held her down. Lucy was covered with sweat, tears and her own sludgy sick.
Once the vomiting had calmed, Natsu turned to Wendy again.
"Sit her up," she said softly. "And let's try that again."
"What?" Natsu shouted. "What do you mean again?"
Wendy handed Natsu another vial of the sludge.
Natsu shook his head. How could he put her through that again? This was worse than torture.
"She needs to keep it down. If there's any poison in her system, it'll kill her."
"Hasn't she been through enough? The poison's probably gone." he asked, sounding desperate even to his own ears. "Please."
"…'t's… 'kay… Na'su…" Lucy whispered, her lips barely moving beyond the unnatural agonized grimace that her features had set themselves in. Her gaze frightened but her eyes were lucid.
Oh, God. She knew exactly what was happening.
A sour taste in his own mouth, Natsu nodded grimly. He held Lucy down once more and forced the life-saving dose down her throat. Against everything he believed in, he held her nose and mouth shut to force her to swallow. Lucy shuddered, almost throwing up again, but Natsu hugged her close, whispering meaningless platitudes in her ear to try to encourage her.
Natsu held his breath as Wendy's hands lit with healing magic. He wasn't sure how long they stayed there, but Lucy's rigid muscles eased, leaving her ragdoll limp.
"Lucy?!" Natsu's voice cracked in panic.
"You can put her down." Wendy dragged a sleeve over her sweat-beaded forehead. She lowered her hands.
"Is it over? Is she… going to be okay?" Natsu asked in a small voice.
Wendy sank back against her heels, leaning to rest her head against the arm of the sofa. She looked like she'd run a marathon.
"I've healed her body of any lasting nerve damage. For now, we need to support her and alleviate the symptoms while her body processes what's left of the poison," Wendy said. "She needs lillyglove berries. Prince Gray has some. I saw them when I went to fetch the carbon tincture."
Lucy's limp frame trembled, tremors still jerking her limbs around, though not as violently as before.
"Then what are you waiting around here for? Go get them."
Wendy shook her head, her smile apologetic. "You'll have to do it, Prince Natsu. I don't think I can stand right now."
"Where are they?" Natsu asked. "I'll grab them from the medical wing and be right back."
"Prince Gray has them sealed behind ice," she reported quietly.
Natsu hesitated, hunching his shoulders. He had tried melting Gray's ice before. It had been as successful as Gray's attempts at freezing his fire.
"I'd have to ask Gray for them…" he muttered, shaking his head.
The last time he'd had seen Gray, Natsu had punched him in the face. They hadn't spoken since. He blamed Gray for what happened to Lucy. But he'd done no better. How could he face Gray now?
Lucy whimpered, her face screwed up as another spasm shuddered through her. She let out a breath as her muscles relaxed.
Natsu couldn't stand to see here this way. He'd throw himself at Gray's feet and beg for forgiveness if that was what it took.
Natsu and powerless are two words that you seldom see together. I wanted to try that dynamic on for size. I hope you could sense his emotion coming through.
As for Gray, he's not a grudge-holder, is he?
Please leave a review or send some good vibes and I'll work on getting a special Nalu moment into the next chapter.
Next time, in Toxic: "Tough. Then you can't have any," said Gray. He wasn't about to give the idiotic fire-breather something that could easily be used to take a life.
Stop back again for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.
