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December 7th, X777
"Who are you?"
The words rang out in her otherwise empty mind. The anger vanished, replaced with abrupt confusion and downright despair over the realization that of all the weird scenarios to take place, a human being appearing in a crater had to happen specifically to her. Lucy didn't dare to answer him, unsure. She flinched in terror when he stumbled a step in her direction. She thought there was an aggressive glow in his eyes, but she wrote it off as nothing more than a trick of the moonlight shining through the hole in the ceiling.
Lucy swallowed thickly, a sound of fear escaping her. She felt a flicker of shame when he stopped, almost puzzled by her response - as if the concept of hurting her hadn't even touched his mind for an instant. He cocked his head. That glow was gone. Only lingering suspicion settled in his gaze.
"Who are you?" he demanded again, voice hoarse.
"Lucy," she said uncertainly. Her voice came out small, unsure. Why was she telling him this?! It wasn't any of his business, just as it wasn't hers to ask what had happened for him to come through her ceiling like that. Well, Lucy thought it could have been her business just a little seeing as he'd wrecked her home.
The annoyance was back and before she knew it, Lucy was approaching him. He looked confused as she stormed towards him, eyes blazing and face flushed with rage. "You idiot," she seethed, not hesitating to get in his face. The voice in the back of her head was urging her to calm down and consider what she was doing. Lucy ignored it.
He sputtered, reeling away with wide eyes. "Huh?" he mumbled oh-so-intelligently, and it only angered her more.
Lucy slammed a finger into the center of his chest, jabbing him sharply. He stumbled back a step in surprise. "Are you stupid? Do you have any idea what you've just done?" She threw her hands in the air, furious, and nearly slapped him in the process. He blinked, bewildered. "Not only," she ranted, "did you ruin my home and any supplies I might have had, but you just…" She made a desperate flutter with her hands, frustrated fear thick in her throat. "You just attracted the attention of every Vhalis in Magnolia!"
"I…" He was at a loss, not sure how to answer. He merely curled his fingers in the odd-looking scarf he wore on his neck, as if seeking its comfort. "What?"
Lucy gave a quiet frustrated scream, shoving him. She whirled away as he fell back with a yelp. Lucy stormed towards where the door should have been and scowled when she found nothing but a blocked path. Slowly, she began prowling the ruined apartment that had resided two or so floors beneath her own. First and foremost, she needed a coat. It was getting cold with the air that poured in from the open ceiling high above.
"Hold on." He was frowning severely at her now. "Who-"
"I told you. Lucy," she retorted, not sure why she was answering the questions of the one who'd ruined the life she'd managed to build for herself as the world ended around them. "Lucy Heartfilia, and you just wrecked my life." She grinned in almost malicious triumph when she found a closet she could force open. She ripped the door open and much to her relief, there was a coat in front of her. A big fluffy coat. It was perfect; it was a deep green, plush, and nearly new, with a great big fluffy hood. It would help her stay hidden in shadows, wouldn't catch attention, and be perfectly warm.
Lucy whirled around after yanking it off the hanger and squawked when she found the frowning man only a few inches away, watching her with suspicious onyx eyes. She pushed past him, determined. She needed to leave. Now, before more Vhalis showed up. He trailed along behind her in thoughtful silence as she gathered what little supplies lingered in the ruined apartment, simultaneously seeking an exit.
When Lucy spared him a look over her shoulder, he looked mildly annoyed. She wondered what he had to be annoyed about. Then again, there was a strange old look to him that made her question a lot of things she was seeing right now. The guy was just plain out weird. Everything about him, from his appearance to the brief glimpses of his personality, was weird.
"So," she said, and he eyed her warily. "Who are you? I mean, you fell from the sky and ruined the place, so you owe me that much at least." Lucy paused. "Actually, you owe me a lot more than that, so you can start paying me back by telling me who you are."
He didn't even wince. He rolled his shoulders and said casually, "Natsu. My name's Natsu. I'm the sun god."
The can she'd been inspecting hopefully fell from her fingertips. The only sound was that of it thudding to the floor, followed by the scraping of the metal as it rolled away. Slowly, she turned to look at him, expression carefully blank even as suspicion and worry crept up into her veins. Great. Just great. She'd found someone who wasn't mentally stable. "Excuse me?" she finally choked out in a strangled voice.
The man - Natsu, he'd called himself - ran his hand through his cropped pink hair. He seemed annoyed with her disbelief. "I said I'm Natsu, the sun god. Did you not hear me the first time, lady?"
She stared at him, and then cracked a sharp bitter laugh. She turned back to her work. "Right," she drawled sarcastically. "And I'm the goddess of the moon."
"That's not funny," he snapped, pain splintering through his eyes sharply enough to stop her snorting laughter. She thought there might have been an odd glint to his gaze, but she forced herself to ignore it again. "You shouldn't mock the gods."
Lucy winced. "Sorry," she mumbled. She wasn't sure what all this funny business about gods was, but it was clear Natsu took it seriously. She didn't dare continue making fun of his ideology. She cleared her throat and shifted the topic. "Look, it doesn't matter what you are, but we need to get the hell out of here."
He immediately brightened, almost amused. "Why?" he asked. Lucy wanted to shake him.
"What world have you been living in?" she snapped, shouldering her bag and hurrying for the window that would open up to the fire escape. She shoved and shoved at the stuck window, but it didn't budge. Natsu watched for a moment, snickering, and then stepped in. She jolted away from the hand that brushed her aside, shocked by the sheer heat of it. She glared at him for touching her, even as he easily pushed the window open. As soon as he'd stepped aside, she threw her leg through and squirmed free.
Natsu clambered through after her and Lucy almost whined in protest. She didn't want to be that person. She didn't want to be the one from the movies who was put in charge of protecting a clueless man who couldn't survive on his own. She didn't want to be the one guiding Natsu through the ruined landscape, tirelessly watching over him. While she'd been lonely, she wanted company who could keep her alive so long as she backed them up, too.
"What do you mean?" demanded Natsu as she shushed him with a hiss, glancing this way and that to make sure there were no signs of Vhalis around them.
"I mean," she dropped her voice to a whisper as she began creeping down the fire escape, "that your little stunt probably dragged every Vhalis in the vicinity here, and now I have to leave or get torn into pieces."
"Vhalis?"
Lucy closed her eyes, praying for patience as she slid from the fire escape and into the alley below. Natsu landed neatly beside her, nearly silent despite his wild, over friendly behavior. "The dead things running around killing people. The zombie that was trying to kill me when you broke in."
"Vhalis," Natsu repeated. He looked as if he'd heard the word before, but hadn't expected her to know it. She shrugged it off and fell into step beside her as they meandered away from the apartment building, sticking close to the shadows as odd sounds began filling the night sky. He lost some of his playful curiosity, growing serious. "Oh, you mean them. The lost souls. Was wondering what was up with them."
"If that's what you want to call them," murmured Lucy, peering around a corner. She yanked back to avoid being spotted when she saw one creeping across the street, making a beeline for her building. It was unlike the one that had attacked her. This one was in the final stages of evolution. It's rotten teeth glinted, jaw hanging wide. She shivered in fear and fingered the necklace at her throat for comfort.
"No," he said blankly, "that's what they are. The lost souls of the dead, which means someone," he glared at nothing in particular, "isn't doing his job."
"Uh-huh," she muttered. Lucy figured that they could potentially be lost souls, if someone considered a person who'd been turned into something else a lost soul. She had no idea what he meant about someone not doing their job though. She peered around the corner again. Safe. "Right. Okay. We need to get out of here without being noticed, because if one sees us-"
She rounded the corner she'd just checked and right into something with blackened, rotten skin and bared, blunted teeth. She couldn't help the shocked scream that escaped her as it launched forward. She hit the ground hard, and a wheeze escaped her as the breath was driven from her. Natsu simply stared at the situation in stunned silence, unable to comprehend quickly enough what had happened to actually help.
The Vhalis snapped its teeth, sharp-tipped fingers slashing. Lucy cried out as she threw her hands up to protect her face, pain flaring where those talons connected with flesh. Natsu remained still, stunned, until hot crimson struck his cheek. He flinched. Only then did he react, and Lucy gasped when he hurled himself at the Vhalis with a vicious grin, shoving it back with his bare hands against its skin until it reeled back with a scream. He somehow slammed it down onto the pavement beside her, teeth snapping near her face.
Lucy instinctively hurled herself onto her stomach, away from the Vhalis just as a bright light burst forth and nearly blinded her. She screwed her eyes shut until it had died away, and when it had, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked. Natsu stooped over her, smug. The Vhalis was gone. When she dared to look around, it was nowhere to be found.
She was somewhat grudging when she took the hand he offered her. His skin burned hers as she was pulled to her feet. Natsu cocked his head a little, flexing his fingers. Once more, she thought that his eyes gleamed with a strange glow.
For just a moment, images of the burned town square flickered through her mind. She pushed them back. No. He wouldn't have had anything to do with that. Natsu was human. Even if he'd come crashing through her ceiling, he had to be human. She needed him to be human in this chaotic world.
Natsu gave his hand a near predatory look before he pushed her forward, down the street. "C'mon," he said cheerfully. "Let's get moving before more of them show up." Lucy glared over her shoulder at him, wondering what the hell was up with him. Apparently, he was coming with her regardless of whether she wanted him to or not. Still, Natsu did have a point.
So, quickly and as silent as a shadow, the pair rushed away from the area that no more than an hour later would be flooded with Vhalis.
Lucy couldn't explain why she decided to let him check out the abandoned house on the outskirts of Magnolia while she waited out in the yard, dawn creeping up and driving the Vhalis into sleep. It had been Natsu who'd pointed out the house though, Natsu who'd offered to check it out and make sure it was safe, and Natsu who'd pointed out that she was too tired to do so properly. She'd been too exhausted and in pain from the various Vhalis attacks to argue.
So, now, Lucy stood there, alone in the shadows of the porch, waiting for him to come back and tell her it was safe. Trusting him, for some reason she couldn't name, to come back. When he did come back, much to her relief, he popped his head out the door with a playful grin that she wanted to slap off his face. This wasn't a world he could joke around in without serious consequences. Not anymore. "All clear."
Lucy followed him in with a heavy sigh, warily looking around even though he'd said it was safe. The house wasn't bad, but it was too accessible. She would have loved a bunker, actually, where she could monitor every entry point because there was only one. But this would do for now. She could sleep safely, scavenge for supplies, and set out to find a new home the next morning. Not that she had any idea of where she should go, she realized with a sinking heart. She dropped her bag to the floor, miserable.
"What's wrong?"
Lucy looked over and found Natsu surprisingly serious, frowning at her. His arms were loosely folded over his chest, as if the chill in the air didn't bother him. She faltered. It was one thing to trust him to check a room for danger. It was another to admit how scared she was. She'd have sooner cut her tongue out before admitting that to a stranger.
But...it had been so long since she'd talked with another person, who lived and breathed as she did. So, she admitted with hesitation, "It's just...I don't have a place that's safe anymore." She pushed her messy hair out of her eyes. "It's terrifying."
His eyes, proving to be a lighter color than she'd thought initially in the oncoming daylight, sharpened with interest. As the sun rose, she caught better view of him, too. His hair was a brilliant, bright pink when the sun started shining through the windows. He grinned, and his smile emanated a warmth that worried her simply because it made her fear melt away just slightly.
It unnerved her more than that smile did, and she pushed those thoughts away stubbornly.
"I'll help you find a new one," he declared proudly. He rubbed the back of his head, sheepish now. "Since it's my fault you need to. I'm sorry about that. I was trying to get home, but I guess...I guess they don't want me back there. I don't know why. Actually," he admitted with a faint, unhappy smile, "I don't even really know why they kicked me out." Lucy tried not to let her confused exasperation show, though she couldn't help lifting her brow. "Anyways, I'll help you find a new home. One that's bigger, and safer."
He beamed at her, so sincerely, that Lucy found that mistrust dissolving. He clearly meant well. "Okay," she agreed, exhaustion sweeping through her bones. At long last, she had someone she could rely on - a potential friend. She wasn't alone anymore. "Thank you," she murmured, "and I'm sorry for getting angry with you. I was under a lot of stress, but that's no excuse. It really is nice to have another person around again."
He shrugged, still grinning. Lucy wondered if he ever stopped smiling. "I'd have done the same. Anyways, wanna start over? Since we're traveling together now." He wrinkled his nose. "I think we're traveling. I don't know if you want to stay in this area."
"Traveling," she confirmed with a disappointed sigh. "I want to find the place with the least number of Vhalis possible." She still nodded though, and offered him her slim hand. "Right, anyways. I'm Lucy Heartfilia."
"Natsu," he said pleasantly, sliding his hand into hers and shaking it playfully. Lucy wanted to roll her eyes at his behavior. He was like a puppy. She just hoped she'd not have to train him like one, because if she had to deal with a loud, exuberant person who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut when it needed to be...well, the partnership would end before long and they'd both be dead. "The sun god," he added with a knowing glint. As if he knew she'd stare blankly at him in disbelief. "You really don't believe me."
She sighed, feeling bad for him. He looked genuinely upset by that. "I'll believe in gods the day I see something that I can't explain away. Besides, I don't believe in anything like gods. My mother did. I mean, she never explicitly said gods, but she sure as hell believed in things that didn't exist. I just don't."
"Why not?" He followed her as she began searching for a place to curl up and rest. "Why don't you believe in gods?"
She spun around to face him, throwing her hands up. "What good does it do? I mean, if there were gods, they wouldn't have let this," she gestured around her wildly, indicating the world they now lived in, "happen. Why didn't they stop this mess if the gods exist?"
Natsu scowled lightly at her, apparently frustrated that she didn't understand without being told. "Maybe we don't know what's going on either. I mean, we were thrown from Valhalla without warning, you know. I think." He pressed his hand over his heart, face serious. "We lose our power the longer we're stuck here. We can't do anything for ourselves, let alone help humans."
Lucy couldn't help it this time; she rolled her eyes, and his scowl deepened. Natsu opened his mouth to bark something at her in protest, but she held up a hand to silence him. He closed his mouth, annoyed. "Look," she said tiredly. "Let's make a deal. No god talk. I don't offend you, you don't offend me. Easy."
Grudgingly, Natsu agreed. "Fine. Not like it'd do anything to help us anyways." He cocked his head. "So what now?"
"Sleep," she declared without hesitation. "And then we'll see if we can find a map and figure out where to go." Lucy offered a hesitant smile, even as he stared at her as blankly as she had a moment ago, looking puzzled about something or another. "You can do what you'd like, but I recommend sleeping, same as me. We'll be walking a lot, so we're going to need it where we can get it."
"Sleep?" he echoed, bewildered. It was as if he was shocked by the mere concept, but rather than explaining or diving into why they needed to sleep with him, Lucy gave him a small wave as she turned to head upstairs. She said simply over her shoulder, "Good night, Natsu."
Some casual introductory stuff! I can't wait to get further in. I just wrote Juvia's introduction recently and OOF I'm excited to get to it. I'd love to draw the scene I wrote. Maybe I'll do it.
Thanks to reviewers (Straw Heart, galactiaconstella, TheAngelicPyro, and sonicloudaf!) as well as those who favorited and followed. It means a lot to me! :)