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December 22nd, X777

Lucy shivered as she tightened her coat around her. She pulled her hood up as far as she could over her head. Natsu, swiping snow from his eyes even as none seemed to touch him, paused to look over at her. A frown touched his face, and he pressed his shoulder briefly into hers. "You good?" he called over the roar of the wind.

Lucy made a small gesture to indicate the roaring snowstorm around them. "Not really!" she yelled back. "We need shelter."

She really should have considered that this would happen, and she scolded herself for not thinking of the possibility. Blizzards weren't necessarily all that common as you went further south in Fiore, but they still did occur – especially in the later winter months. They were nasty, heavy, and filled with wet snow that would freeze you in an instant. Staying close to Natsu helped. He was practically a beacon of warmth in the cold.

Natsu squinted at nothing in particular, and she guessed he was either trying to figure out if he'd heard her properly or if he'd missed something. She bet on the former with some guesswork as he shrugged and scanned the snow-stricken area. He clearly agreed they needed shelter, more than anything else at the moment.

This was her fault, thought Lucy, and poor Natsu was trying to fix it for her. He'd told her he could feel the storm coming, but she'd wanted to push on. She should have listened.

Natsu suddenly grabbed her arm and began tugging her along. Natsu scowled as the wind rushed more snowflakes into his eyes. He wiped them away again, huffing. His hand was warm on her arm, and Lucy was so busy longing to be that warm all over that she didn't realize he'd stopped until Lucy bumped into his back.

She was startled, confused by his stillness. When he began trying to nudge her back, she said, "Natsu?" He hushed her hastily, swearing under his breath, and Lucy peered around him. She stiffened when between flurrying snow and roaring winds, she spotted it. Vhalis. It had been dead a while from the looks of it, and a ragged wound in its side suggested the person it had once been had likely been torn open by another of the Vhalis.

Lucy swallowed thickly, sinking her fingers into the sleeve of the nice coat Jura had given Natsu when they'd left him. A sound was emanating from Natsu that she couldn't fully hear over the storm – a low, deep hum, one she'd imagined little frequencies of light might have sounded like when she'd looked at graphs back in high school. She'd heard something several times from him, she realized.

Lucy was not nearly as observant as she'd once been. Not since Natsu had come into her life. There'd always been two things she'd told herself before they'd teamed up, two things that had kept her alive in this apocalyptic hell of a world for seven months. One, always be alert. Something could come at any moment to rip you apart.

Two, always look over your shoulder.

Lucy gave a short scream when something slammed into her from behind. In turn, she crashed into Natsu, and he hit the ground face-first, grunting when Lucy landed heavily on top of him. It drove the breath right out of his lungs. Lucy yelped, her chin colliding with the back of his head, pain exploding through her mouth when she bit her tongue. She barely noticed, however, as a triumphant cry filled her ear and hot, acidic saliva seeped onto the side of her neck, soaking her hair. Pain splintered through her shoulder as she squirmed.

Natsu's hum pierced her ears as he somehow writhed from beneath her and twisted, shoving the Vhalis off of her without an ounce of fear. He wrestled with it, and Lucy simply lay there, face-down in the snow for a moment, catching her breath. She whipped upright when she remembered there was more than one, but the Vhalis Natsu had tackled off of her was unmoving in the snow. Dead. Lucy gawked at its still body, spread out before Natsu with its twisted, dead face turned away from her. How had Natsu killed the undead?

The second Vhalis raced over upon realizing what was happening, and Natsu spun on his knees to face it just before it barreled into him. He swore colorfully when he found himself on his back in the snow, arms thrown up to protect his throat from its gnashing teeth.

Lucy clutched her necklace with gloved fingers for a brief moment of reassurance. She was terrified and unsure of what to do as she shot to her feet, gulping down air. "Natsu!"

"Stay back," barked Natsu, gritting his teeth as it snapped, teeth scoring his palms and arms. It screamed at its lack of success in killing him. "Stay back, Lucy!"

But she couldn't simply sit back and watch. She would not let Natsu get killed because she was too scared to move. She just couldn't. Natsu was her friend, and he'd promised her he'd not leave her alone in the wild, Vhalis-infested lands of Fiore.

So, ignoring the shocking pain in her left arm, Lucy dropped to her knees and began feeling around in the snow. It blinded her, a gust of wind separating her from Natsu in a blast of white. The Vhalis's scream was muted by the roaring wind as Lucy crawled through the snow, tears rolling down her cheeks. She even pleaded with the heavens above that there was something she could use.

Her fingers collided with something hard, and she hissed as she pulled back to look at her finger. A sliver had lodged itself there. Yanking it out with a grin, Lucy shoved snow from her face and ripped the large branch free after groping around for it again. It wasn't as big as she'd have liked, but the branch would certainly suffice.

Lucy paused, realizing the blizzard had whited her world out. A shout told her where to go though. Lucy hoisted the branch up onto her shoulder like a club as she approached, biting back a whimper of pain. She didn't give the Vhalis a chance to know she was there. She swung the branch as hard as she could, and the Vhalis went sprawling as the end connected with its skull, stunning it. Lucy was surprised it had worked so well.

Lucy heaved for air as Natsu rocked upright, and they exchanged a brief, uncertain grin. The Vhalis rose with a wrathful roar, hurling itself in Lucy's direction. She squawked when she was slammed back down into the snow, this time more alarmed by the sudden shift than scared. She threw her hands up to protect her face from the Vhalis, and her fingers slid on dead skin as it snapped at her with nasty, rotten teeth. A scream burst from her chest.

"Close your eyes!"

It went against every instinct to do so, but something about the urgency of Natsu's voice convinced her to. She screwed her eyes shut, and just in time, for a flash of light beyond her eyelids was so hot it seemed to touch her skin like an angry sunburn. She heard the Vhalis scream in agony, collapsing. And then…its weight was gone, and hands were pulling her into a sitting position, gentle and kind.

"Lucy!" gasped Natsu. "Are you okay?"

She pried her eyes open and stared at him for a few moments. He was frantic, knelt beside her. She thought for a moment that there was a fading glow in his anxious gaze.

Thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd not been telling tales about gods and Vhalis.

She hastily shoved that thought out of her head. She didn't want to believe it. Refused to.

"Lucy," said Natsu urgently, and Lucy shook her head slowly to clear it.

"Y-yeah," she stammered, licking her dried lips. Her heart raced in her chest as she glanced at the Vhalis, letting Natsu haul her to her feet, tucking her good arm around his shoulders to help steady her as she walked away from the charred remains of a Vhalis. She could have sworn she heard something sizzling like a pan on a fire, saw the smoke drift from the Vhalis's body.

Natsu didn't stop until they were a significant distance away, the snow blowing sharply over them. Confident she'd be well-protected from the wind and from further danger, Natsu helped Lucy settle back down on a cold rock, her face pale and clammy as she daintily checked her shoulder. Its shape felt oddly enough beneath her fingers that she blanched.

After making sure Lucy was okay with it, Natsu helped her unzip her coat so they could check it over further. He ran his hands through his ruffled pink hair as he looked at it. "I think…Luce, I think it's dislocated."

Lucy sucked in an anxious breath. There were no hospitals now. What the hell was she supposed to do? She didn't want to make it worse. Lucy slid her hand down her face, grimacing when it came away sticky with blood from a cut on her cheek. She wiped the blood away on her jeans. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I can fix it."

Her jaw dropped, and a short, pained laugh burst from her. "Like hell am going to let you try and pop my shoulder back in place. No. Definitely not."

"C'mon, Luce," Natsu protested with a slight pout. "It'll be fine! Grandeeney taught me how to do it a while back when I had to do it for one of her Favored a while back. She said I was good at it."

"First of all, no," seethed Lucy as the cold began to set in. Her clothes were soaked from rolling in semi-melted snow. She didn't know what had happened with the Vhalis, but that was a question to consider later. It was much less a problem than the blizzard cloaking them in snow and ice and wind. She pressed her chapped lips together tightly, fighting the urge to let her teeth chatter. "Second of all, who the hell is Grandeeney?"

"I told you about her. She's the wind spirit, remember! She's really good with healing, too."

Lucy stared at him, exasperated. She wasn't interested in discussing god stuff at the moment, but she gave him a small, pained smile to indicate she remembered. He looked so damn happy about the fact that she knew who he meant. "I wish she was here," he added, frowning at her shoulder thoughtfully. "She'd be more helpful for you to have around since you're human, but she doesn't tend to keep an actual corporeal body most of the time."

Pain throbbed and Lucy sucked in a small breath, breathing through it. Natsu had touched it with gentle fingers, inspecting it with care. He pulled away after a moment, instead unwinding his odd scarf from around his throat. Lucy gawked. She'd never seen him take that scarf off. Never. "That's my diale," he told her as he pressed it into her fingers. The material was strange. She'd thought it looked to be made of scales, but it felt that way, too. "Don't lose it, okay? It's really important to me."

"Thank you?" Lucy frowned as he moved closer, making a show of throwing it around the back of her neck. "Natsu, what is this made of?"

Natsu had always been a tricky bastard.

In one smooth movement, Natsu snagged her arm and with little effort, popped her shoulder back into place. It drew a shocked, pained squeal from Lucy, who ripped away with a look of betrayal. Pain snapped through her so viciously she saw white, almost passing out. She took deep breaths to stop that from happening, wanting to slap his smirk off his face. "Natsu!"

"It's made of Igneel's belly scales," Natsu said, putting his hands up in surrender. He even shifted away so she couldn't reach out and smack him. "Look, I did it, Luce!" He smiled cheekily at her. He cautiously moved forward after a moment. "Besides," he continued, waving off her aggravation with him, "We can't afford for you to stay hurt like that, right?" He gently tied his scarf into a makeshift sling after fixing her coat, his fingers burning where they brushed her chin and cheeks.

Reluctantly, Lucy let her displeasure go. He was right. "Still. Rude."

"Sorry," he apologized, not sounding sorry at all as he smiled at her. Mischief sparked in his gaze. "That it hurts," Natsu added.

"Natsu," she sighed in exasperation, but she couldn't help but be amused with his pride. "I guess you're forgiven," she decided, because while it was sore, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. He offered her his hand, and she took it with her good side, letting him haul her to her feet. "Let's go find somewhere to stay until the snow dies down…"

Lucy was rather unhappy with Natsu. He'd not done anything wrong per se, but she wasn't thrilled that he'd decided to leave her on her lonesome in the middle of what could be Vhalis-infested woods mere days after their encounter in the blizzard. It was sunny and it was noon, so the Vhalis weren't as inclined to venture out – especially with the way the sun reflected off the crisp white snow. It was bright enough to give Lucy a headache. She wished she'd found sunglasses.

Mostly, she was cold. The temperature seemed to be plummeting with each passing minute. At least her coat hadn't been torn in the attack, she noted. Natsu would come back though, and that was all that mattered. She was more worried for him than she was about him coming back. She hated when he took it upon himself to do scouting on his own, because what if something prevented him from returning one day? What if he got hurt, or was attacked by Vhalis he'd not thought to look for?

Lucy rubbed the anxiety from her chest, scolding herself for such thoughts. She had no reason to fret like this. Natsu would be fine. He did this daily now, sometimes more than once, to ensure that the way ahead was clear. It was easier and safer for one person to do it, so they didn't have to worry about a second. It helped that Natsu was somehow particularly good at finding clear paths to their next destination.

Natsu would be back. Lucy wasn't alone, not anymore.

Still, it was boring sitting around, so Lucy let her mind drift back to the conversation she'd had with Natsu before he left, hoping it would help her forget the freezing cold. Bored of walking in silence, she'd cautiously asked for more information about the spirit he'd mentioned, Grandeeney. He'd been more than happy to talk about her, and before long, he'd even told her about who this Mavis he was so angry with was, as well as how the gods came to be.

Mavis was the center of it all, he'd told her. She was the spirit of their homeland Valhalla and the "mother" of the gods. According to Natsu, she chose who could and couldn't become gods with the help of one other god who tended to keep close eyes on all their charges. He was like the head of their family, if what Lucy thought was right.

Mavis was kind – usually – and loving and wise. Natsu had even joked that Mavis was the equivalent of what humans thought to be an angel, though there had been significant irritation in his tone when he'd spoken of her. Her temper, though notorious among the gods, was rarely ever seen, and she was clever, the most clever person Natsu had ever met.

"Maybe we upset her," he'd said, looking to the sky with a miserable look. "Maybe that's why we're not allowed home."

Sensing he'd not been happy talking about Mavis, Lucy had quickly changed their conversation topic to another god he'd mentioned here and there. He'd blossomed again, more than happy to talk. It hadn't been too long after that that he'd suggested Lucy sit down and rest while he scouted ahead, noting aloud that she seemed tired.

It wasn't that she wasn't tired. She was always tired now, with the amount of traveling they did and the stress of avoiding the Vhalis. Still. He didn't need to comment on it, and she wasn't tired enough that she couldn't keep going. At least her arm felt better, she supposed. Natsu had done a good job of helping her with it, and the pain medication they'd found in their last raid on an empty house had done wonders.

Lucy tapped her fingers on her thigh and sighed heavily, tipping her head back. She watched the soft, fluffy clouds passing overhead in the sky. The sun shone brightly, suggesting it wasn't cold at all – something she certainly knew to be untrue, because she was sitting outside in the brisk winter breeze. Fiore itself always tried to fool you in the winter. It was never warm, no matter how warm it looked.

A crunch caught Lucy's attention, and she rolled her head to the side to stare at the nearby trees, wary when nothing crept out of hiding. Straightening with a wary gaze, she called, "Natsu?" Her heart skipped a beat when Natsu didn't show up or answer her. "Natsu?" she tried again, slowly rising to her feet. She wanted Natsu to be the one who'd made the noise. Needed him to be, because the alternative was not a good one. Please, please be Natsu…

Her boots crunched in the snow as she drew back a step, the only sound in an otherwise silent clearing. This time, Lucy felt the frigid temperature drop several degrees in a way that was distinctly unnatural. A chill unrelated to the cold went up her spine. Her breath hitched as she nervously took a hold of the scarf Natsu had left her with. Something was very, very wrong, she thought, whirling around. Nothing had changed behind her outside of the hoarfrost springing to life, creeping along trees and bushes before her very eyes. She watched it cover everything, including herself. She shoved her fingers into her pockets, shivering violently as it even laced her hair and eyelashes.

Fiore was not warm in the winter, but it didn't get this cold. Not unless you went to the most northern parts of the mountains, where arctic winds howled over bare mountain peaks.

A hand grabbed her shoulder, and Lucy almost screamed in surprise and at the bite of cold that tore through her. Unsure of what to do, Lucy didn't so much as move as a voice that was deep and hoarse and entirely unfamiliar rasped in her ear, "That scarf doesn't belong to you, lady."

Lucy gave herself only a moment to decide what she should do. She counted to three, and then reeled away, flinging out her elbow despite the stab of pain that raced through her still healing shoulder. The stranger hissed in agitation, and she flung herself forward, away from him. Breath seared its way down her throat, and she could barely feel her nose as she spun on her heel to look at the person who'd caught her off guard.

Terror coated her tongue until she realized that despite the black of his skin, he wasn't a Vhalis. Rather, he resembled a man – albeit one that had frozen to death, with extremities darkened by the black of frostbite. Permafrost seemed to cling to him like a second skin, and his dark hair was threaded with it. His equally dark eyes were as cold as arctic waters as he narrowed them at her, flexing his fingers with irritation written over his face. Something that could only be described as power flared in his eyes as Lucy's breath turned to literal ice crystals that sprinkled the air before her face.

Somewhere, in the back of her head, Lucy thought a voice sounding irritatingly like Natsu was singing, "I told you so." Lucy could scarcely think around the singular thought that had stamped itself into her brain – one that she could no longer deny. One she'd been trying to avoid confronting for so long.

She had a damn good guess as to what she was looking at.

The man bared his teeth at her in a grin. "Where's Natsu?"

Gods are real.

And so ends the introductory era and into the next section of SF! I'm so excited for it! :D Any guesses as to who just showed up? ;)

Thanks to reviewers (marn-marn, TheAngelicPyro, Sele de la Luna, Meow Orbit, BeachBumBabe30, and MPrime!) as well as those who favorited and followed!