Chapter 4: Qu'est-ce que c'est
Summery: Four teenagers work together to destroy a blood thirsty ghost with unknown magical weapons... easy peasy! What could go wrong!
Chapter title taken from "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads.
Natsu hopped over a metal chair, yelping when it collapsed under his feet after getting struck by air. As intriguing as this entire ghost situation was turning out to be, Natsu would really rather be fighting any other ghost. The white haired man cackled again, the sound quickly becoming a grating nuisance on Natsu's poor ears.
"Will you shut up!" Natsu quipped, slashing his sword at the apparition only for it to connect with thin air.
"Hand over the sword, human , and maybe I'll consider it." He grinned that ugly wide grin and the boy had to stop himself from commenting on it then and there.
"You don't even know how to properly use it! It's great power isn't meant to be wasted on mere children." Erigor flicked his fingers at him again, sending an invisible attack at his head. He ducked, using the sword as a shield and desperately searching the room for an escape route.
One thing not many people knew about Natsu was that he was an excellent actor. He could fake it until he made it all the way to the statewide science fair competition his freshman year of high school with only a cardboard box and a paper mache dragon. So he had no problem pretending to be an expert swordsman in order to get his friends to safety.
The only problem was now that they were out of the way, he was absolutely screwed . Not only was he completely inexperienced with this lava-engraved sword, but his opponent seemed to be way too experienced in his own abilities if his laid back crisscrossed posture was anything to go off of. Even worse, Natsu found himself fighting literal air . It simply isn't fair!
And he wasn't positive he'd be making it out of this dusty old room alive either…
That is, until a large desk slid across the floor, shielding Natsu from his opponent in an instant. Erigor cried out in pain as a wooden chair struck his back, his eyes snapping towards the door.
"Ah, sorry." Gray drawled out, lazily swinging his newly transformed sword at his side. "I was aiming for your head."
"You just threw a chair at me!" The spirit gawked, flicking his wrist in retaliation. His attack was quickly intercepted by a glaringly angry Erza. Her sword caused the wind to bounce right off of its surface and back at Erigor.
"Lucy," She huffed, positioning herself to block another attack. "I suggest you find out the purpose of those bracelets. Quickly."
The blond nodded, following behind Gray while he raced to a slack jawed Natsu. He blinked at them, the surprise evident on his face.
"Close your mouth dude, you could catch flies." Gray quipped.
"What're you doing?" Natsu answered instead. "I told you guys to get outa here!"
"As if we'd leave your sorry ass behind!"
"My ass is not sorry!"
After predicting a snarky response from Gray, Lucy decidedly placed their bickering to the back of her mind, instead focusing on the combined bracelets in her hand. She gently pulled the two apart, pleased when they magnetically snapped back together at her will.
"So they were designed to go together." She softly remarked, catching the attention of the two bickering boys on her left. Lucy could hear Erza battling behind her, her anxiety sparking when the girl let out a groan in pain. She didn't doubt the other two hadn't heard it either by the way their jaws clenched, eyes narrowing in worry.
"I'm gonna give Erza a hand." Gray growled, holding his sword up and sending a sharp look in Natsu's direction. "Stay here and guard Lucy." He demanded.
"Don't tell me what to do, ice queen." Natsu huffed, frustrated by the fact that he was being bossed around by Gray of all people. The pink-haired boy felt even more disgruntled once he realized he'd be forced to to miss out on the fight. But he stayed put, which was good enough reassurance for Gray seeing as the boy took off after their ghostly enemy only a second later.
Natsu rolled his eyes, turning his attention back at the blond, leaning against the hilt of his sword. "So, do you get a cool magical sword too?"
Lucy's eyes snapped to him, biting her lip in thought. "No… I don't think I do." She muttered. Growling in frustration when feeling around the rim of the bracelets proved unsuccessful.
She was tempted to rage quit, throw these stupidly cryptic bracelets at that scary ghost guy's stupid head, and lock herself in her room for the next week.
This entire situation was terrifying.
The four of them had been tossed into a battle against their will using mysterious weapons that seemed impossible to figure out. Saying she was scared would be an understatement. But Lucy had never been met with a mystery she couldn't solve. She breathed, centering herself and ignoring Natsu's curious eyes. There was a solution to this. There had to be.
That solution presented itself as soon as she put Taurus's bracelet up to her eye to inspect the interior.
One moment she was inspecting Natsu through the wide hole in the golden bracelet. His hair shining the usual suspicious pink color, his face perfectly tan. The next moment… His hair was white. And his once tanned face was dimmed and drained, giving off a sickly greenish hue. His cheeks were sunken in as if he'd been malnourished his entire life. Those close to the boy will know for a fact that he is anything but starved. And his eyes… What were once large onyx eyes full of life were replaced by two hollow pitch black holes. If she squinted she could see golden specks hidden deep within the pits…
She shrieked when he titled his head, dropping the bracelet on the floor with a loud 'clunk'.
"Lucy what the hell-"
"What happened to your-!" The girl looked up, blinking back at a bewildered… pink-haired… perfectly tanned Natsu. "Face." She finished breathily.
He blinked his usual onyx eyes at her and handed her the bracelet she hadn't even noticed him picking up. "Are you okay? Are ya hurt?
"No…" She answered before shaking her head and snatching the bracelet back.
Ignoring the boy's disgruntled, you're welcome , Lucy steeled herself and put the bracelet back to her eye. As expected it showed the same ghostly images to her, even when she looked at Gray and Erza who seemed to still be battling it out with a no longer transparent Erigor.
"Natsu, can you see that!" The girl asked excitedly, shoving the jewel up to her companions eye. The boy humored her, looking through the golden hoop with a confused expression. He blinked for a second… and then turned his squinting eyes towards Lucy.
"I don't see nothin…" He stated flatly. "You sure you're doing okay?"
"Interesting…" Lucy ignored his question. It seems only she can see through the bracelets. And it looked like Taurus's bracelet was some sort of portal between the living realm and the spirit realm.
"Of course! Taurus is the mutual relationship between the physical being and the spirit! Which means!" Lucy shot Natsu a confident grin, grabbing his muscled arm and pulling him towards the fight. It was evident that Natsu had zero clue what was going on, but he was being led into the fighting which was good enough for him.
"Gray, Erza!" Lucy got the two's attention, ducking behind a wooden shelf for cover. "I know what to do!"
"Excellent, Lucy!" Erza praised, swiftly pulling herself and a flailing Gray behind the same shelf as Erigor howled out an ugly laugh.
"There's nowhere to hide humans! Just surrender and I'll make your death as painless as possible!"
Erza clenched her jaw and ignored him. "So, what can you do?"
"Do you have powers? Wind powers like that asshole !?" Gray theorized while the blonde looked through Aquarius's bracelet, confirming her suspicions when she saw nothing .
Natsu's eyes widened. "Does your arm turn into a sword!?"
"It's difficult to explain right now." Lucy hurried, snapping the Taurus and Aquarius jewels back together. "But these are going to be lots of help."
The three sword wielding high-schoolers gave each other a look that spoke volumes … before receiving a final nod from Erza. They had found magical pendants which transformed into life sized elemental swords . They were battling a wind wielding ghost in the attic of their high school. Given the day's events, whatever Lucy had planned was probably perfectly sensible. They had no reason and even less time to doubt her now.
"Lead the way, Lucy." The red-haired girl gestured towards their angry opponent. "We'll cover you."
The four split off, with Natsu running in front of Lucy as a guard while Gray unskillfully slashed at Erigor with his sword as a distraction. Erza blocked the ghost's sharp attacks, jumping on top of a wooden cabinet and landing a painful hit on his shoulder.
"Our swords do damage!" Erza shouted, earning a grunt of confirmation from Lucy. Her and Natsu stood in the middle of the room as Natsu protected her from a gust of dangerous wind with his sword as a shield.
Trying her best to dutifully ignore the spark of curiosity in her chest at the sight of his heat-engraved weapon, the girl held the connected Aquarius and Taurus bracelets up to her eye and gawked at the sight.
With the addition of Aquarius, the connected gems had not only shown the distorted world through Taurus's bracelet, but a path , created from beautifully luminescent blue waves which appeared seemingly out of thin air. The waves moved around the attic, all flowing to one destination across the room.
Lucy felt herself suck in a gasp.
Yes, this is what she had theorized would happen, but it didn't make it any less captivating. The spirit realm was… Beautiful.
"Aquarius." She muttered to herself. "The spirit's guide."
She followed the arrows, careful to make sure Natsu was following, until they all swept into a lake in one corner of the room. She wasn't able to see very clearly due to the access of tables and desks covering the area, but she knew that the solution to their apparition sized problem had to be hidden behind it all.
"Any idea what to do, Lucy?" Natsu grunted as Erigor focused his attention on them, shooting a large gust their way. "I don't know how long I can keep this up."
"I know what to do!" Lucy broadcasted to the entire room, successfully catching Erza and Gray's attention, motioning for them to come over.
Unfortunately, her declaration seemed to have hit the last of Erigor's buttons as the ghost growled in agitation. He snapped his head towards the blonde, scoffing when the three sword wielders stood in front of her protectively.
"Enough games!" Erigor shouted, screeching to a halt in the middle of the room. His floating form settled as he lifted both arms into the air, a scowl on his face. "Playing with you kids has been fun, but it's time to end this!"
Natsu really shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that the annoying wind-wielding apparition was capable of forming a tornado around his body. It was the most predictable thing to happen to him in the last hour. But he still found himself gawking at the daunting sight of erasers and chalk swirling around them.
Lucy ducked behind him with a squeak and he held out a protective arm in reassurance.
"Lucy, what do we do!" Erza shouted over her shoulder.
"We need to get to that wall!" She pointed, squinting as the wind continued to pick up.
"At this rate, there won't be any wall left!" Gray pierced his sword through the wooden floor, holding onto it with a tight grip. "We need to stop this wind before it destroys the whole school!"
"How're we supposed to defeat wind!?" Lucy snarked, growling in frustration when her skirt refused to stay down. "Unless one of you can pull a giant anti-fan out of your pockets!?"
"What the hell is an anti-fan!?"
"Fan…" Natsu muttered to himself, his brain working overtime as he tried to recall their recent chemistry unit. The boy may not pay attention in most of his classes, but this one allowed him to use chemicals and blow stuff up! He'd be a fool not to mentally download everything he's learned from the 90 minute class.
Wind… What was it that Gildarts had said in class? Wind was the movement of air. And the air was basically just… Oxygen! Now how in the world were they supposed to use oxygen against the guy who controlled it? Natsu had to think, they were running out of time! He had to think, he had to think, he had to-
"If only your swords could actually fire an attack!" Lucy hissed, shielding her eyes. "Then we could knock this guy down a peg!"
"Fire!" Natsu gasped, turning to Lucy hurriedly. "Of course!"
"What…?"
"Today, in chemistry!" He attempted to hurriedly explain. "The battle of elements! How we made those mini tornadoes and put an active fire next to it?"
"And the fire.. Won!" Lucy gasped too, jumping in excitement. She was too busy rejoicing to feel bitter about her lack of participation in that class. There was no need to remind herself of the way everyone had ooed and awed at the teachers demonstration as she sat at the back of the classroom, completely lost.
"Natsu! You need to make your sword produce actual fire!" She encouraged. She was also only like 30% sure it was possible…
"Sure thing!" He flashed a cocky grin, not even taking into account the fact that he had no idea how to do that or if it even could.
He slashed the sword with all of his strength, expecting it to burst into flames as soon as it came back up.
But nothing happened.
"Great job dumbass, I think I felt the temperature spike!" Gray snarked.
Fighting the urge to hit the boy beside him, Natsu cleared his throat. Readjusting the positioning of his hands and swiping the sword across the air in front of him once more. Lucy stared at the sword, eagerly awaiting its transformation…
It did nothing.
"Natsu." The girl deadpanned. "Nothing's happening."
"I know!" The boy ignored his embarrassing voice crack. "Just give me a minute!"
"We don't have a minute! Just make it burst into flames or something!"
"Well if you're such an expert why don't you do it!"
"If you two have a plan, make it happen already!" Erza barked.
"You'll never be able to harness the true power of those artifacts!" Erigor's voice echoed, just as it did when he first introduced himself. "You idiots are gonna die!" he cackled, picking up more objects with his vicious winds.
"Natsu, Hurry!" Gray demanded, ducking away from a chair that had come close to knocking him upside the head. The pink haired boy almost wished it did.
Erza clicked her teeth. "We don't have time for this-"
Natsu let out a growl in frustration. "Will everybody just shut up already!"
He felt a tug of anger deep in his soul and allowed that anger to travel through his veins. From his very core all the way to his fingertips which held the hilt of the sword. In a flash, the blade lit up in flames causing his three companions to jump back in shock.
"Holy shit!" said Gray.
"It worked!" Lucy rejoiced.
Even compared to the size of the tornado Erigor had brewing, Natsu's newly ignited sword seemed to have just the effect they wanted. The tornado slowed, dropping small objects back on the ground as it did.
"Good job, Natsu!" The blond praised. "Now Gray and Erza, I need your help."
Erza opted to stay and guard Natsu and his flame while the other two ran to the corner of the attic, Lucy carefully following the glowing blue waves. They moved alluringly, slowly wiggling across the walls and forming into a large puddle along the surface. Each liquid arm ended at this wall… just behind the pile of chairs and desks.
"We need to get these out of the way." Lucy commanded, receiving a nod from Gray. She grabbed the sides of a long desk, giving it a weak tug. It wouldn't budge.
"Step back, Lucy. I got this." Gray grinned, cockily holding his sword in a stance he'd seen Erza in many times before. He took a deep breath through his nose and lunged forward with an exhale from his mouth, effectively slicing everything blocking the wall in half.
Lucy breathed. "Woah."
"These things are awesome!" Gray beamed, effectively kicking the sliced objects away from the wall.
"Erza!" Natsu screamed, distracting the two from their temporary victory.
They whipped their heads around at the noise, finding Natsu sprawled across the floor, his sword barely alight, inches in front of him. He was clawing at the ground, reaching for the weapon in desperation. Directly above him was Erza, swept up by the wind and clutching a pillar to hold herself in place.
Erigor floated there, cackling like he loved to do. His arm stretched towards Erza while he attempted to destroy the flame around Natsu's sword with his other. Lucy found herself gasping as the pillar cracked. Her new friend ground her teeth while she tried to keep herself in place.
"Shit!" Gray grunted as the wind successfully overpowered the sword that was once aflame, rushing towards them in the blink of an eye. He apologized, snagging Lucy's waist and pulling her close while he impaled the floor beneath them and held on for dear life.
Lucy squeezed Gray's neck, too sacred to feel any embarrassment. She felt tears well in the pools of her eyes while the wind bombarded her. She couldn't see anything but Natsu with his hand finally on the hilt of his sword, and she couldn't hear anything but the quick beating of her own heart.
Lucy was afraid.
She thought she was going to die. And from the wind of all things. Just as quickly as it appeared she felt her fear turn into anger. It wasn't fair that she might go out like this. It wasn't fair that she, Gray, Erza, and even Natsu had been put in this situation in the first place. It wasn't fair that she's spent the last 9 years of her life alone and trapped under her father's thumb.
Lucy grit her teeth and barely noticed her zodiac bracelets warming on her wrist. She wanted to know what it was like to be friends with Erza, she wanted to keep playing the violin, she wanted to befriend Gray and yes she wanted to befriend Natsu too. Even though they had gotten off on the wrong foot, Lucy believed he wasn't the arrogant jerk persona he'd shown her. Hell, he had been willing to sacrifice himself just to get them to safety. She refused to believe he was truly a terrible person. She refused to go out like this.
"Natsu!" She called out, hoping he heard her.
He had.
His head whipped around to her, taking in the compromising position her and Gray were currently in. He noticed the way her blond hair fluttered in front of her, almost obscuring her face from sight. But most importantly, he noticed her eyes.
The way they had locked onto him, full of anger. Trapped beneath that anger he could see her fear, clear as day. But overshadowing them both, was her sharp resolve.
Natsu could feel his breath stutter as the fiery determination flooded his senses. With just a look the boy could feel the blood boiling in his veins, a burning hot need to protect himself and the people around him.
"I believe in you!" She had said and suddenly he could breathe again.
Natsu's mouth curled into a smirk, climbing to his feet and turning to face their enemy. With his eyes filled to the brim with a fiery passion, he swung his sword out, the blade effectively catching fire again. This one more intense and much larger than the last.
"Thanks, Lucy!" He called out before hopping onto a flying desk. He made his way up to Erigor, using more items as stepping stools and reached the top. With an almost sinister smile, he raised the flaming sword above his head, reveling in the ghosts' stunned expression.
"Go to hell!" he called out and swiftly brought the sword down on the spirit, his body flying towards the ground and leaving a small crater in its wake.
The wind ceased its attacks and Lucy jumped out of Gray's hold determinedly. She was quick to pull off her bracelets after that, not wanting to take any chances. The blond peaked through the jewels center, confirming that there was in fact something of use on this wall.
She had found a swirling black portal with bright blinking arrows and an 'Over here Dummy' sign scribbled above it. Lucy pursed her lips in annoyance and confusion, ignoring the rude sign in favor of directing her friends' attention to the wall in front of her.
"Natsu, over here, now!"
Erza, however, was more than ready to knock this nuisance back to where he came from. She was already at the wheezing apparition's side with a look that promised pain. Gray stepped out of the way, squeaking in fear.
"Be gone, spirit!" The red-haired swordsman orchestrated one last powerful sweep of her sword across the scowling man's body. He contorted in pain as he flew across the air, his back hitting the portal and the wall slowly sucking him through.
Natsu stepped forward, breathing heavily and watching the scene play out with curious eyes. His own sword was no longer on fire. It had taken its original form instead, this time the crack where lava used to be had dried up, leaving a gray rocky substance in its place.
"No!" Erigor croaked, his white hair blowing every which way. "You little shits just got lucky!" he cursed as his entire bottom half was sucked through the wall, a shaking hand moving up to point.
"You'll never win! There are others like me. Other's who wouldn't ever be beaten by the likes of you !" He cackled, his cracked lips forming into a sinister grin. "You got lucky!" he choked on another laugh, curling his twitching hand in order to flip them off…
"Fuck you!" And then he, and the portal , were gone.
Gray returned the gesture with an annoyed huff. "Good riddance."
"What'd he say to me!" Natsu roared, kicking at the wall as if that'd avenge his damaged ego. But Lucy had seen the portal disappear right before her eyes. There was no way of getting to him.
"I wonder where he could've gone…" She muttered.
"As of right now, I don't particularly care." Erza huffed, falling back into a chair with a relieved sigh.
The other three followed in suit, all of them crumbled up together in a tiny corner of the attic. They took a moment to collect themselves, inspecting any wounds from the battle and finding relief when all they had to worry about were tiny cuts. More importantly, they took a moment to simply breath e..
"So…" Gray was the first to speak up. "What now?"
Lucy tilted her head to get a better look at him. "We put them back?"
"No…" Erza intervened. "You heard him, he's not the only one who wants these. And whatever those spirit's want with the gems… probably isn't good."
"So you're saying we keep 'em?" Natsu had remained oddly quiet, opting to inspect the sword laying at his side instead. His expression was strangely serious as he looked over his friends.
"Natsu's right." Lucy stated grimly. "If we end up keeping them we have to protect them. That means what happened today might happen all of the time . Are you sure we're ready for such a huge responsibility-"
"Now I didn't say all that, Lucy." Natsu offered her a smile. "If what I saw today means anything, we are more than ready to take on suckers like Erigor. We were able to hold our own without getting seriously injured. You were smart enough to figure out how those bracelets work and how to defeat the bad guy. And I got a badass flamethrower for a sword!"
"But…" the blonde sputtered. "But that was just today . Erigor was right, we got lucky! We can't be sure that the next time we fight won't be the last-"
"Of course, we will still need training." Erza said. "Which I am more than happy to provide given my years of experience with swordsmanship."
Lucy opened her mouth to interject but Erza silenced her with a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Lucy," She stared into her friend's brown eyes with a surprising softness.
If you were to ask the red-head how she felt about Lucy earlier today, She would be more than willing to give you her answer in a string of offensive insults. But now, after what they've been through, the girl couldn't help but retract every statement. They were friends now. And Erza protected her friends. Even from things as fickle as emotions.
"I know you're afraid, and that's okay . But you must remember that you have people willing to fight this battle with you. You have friends who will always be there to support you." she gave her shoulder a squeeze. "No matter what. We're in this together, Lucy."
Lucy nervously chewed on her lip in thought… until a small smile crept onto her face. "Okay." she whispered, ducking her head as her smile grew wider. "I'm in."
"Same here!" Gray declared with a confident grin, nudging her with his elbow.
The blond shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe we just fought a ghost…"
Natsu cheered, jumping up with energy nobody knew he still had. "And totally kicked its ass!"
"So, we're like the ghost busters?" Gray offered.
"Oh hell yes."
Before they could properly soak up the happy moment, the attic door burst open, setting each teen on edge. The three sword wielders stood up in a flash, activating their weapons and standing in front of Lucy protectively. The figure shuffled through the door, slowly looking around…
"What the hell happened here!" The one and only principle of Magnolia High, Makarov Dreyar shrieked, a wide gasp hidden behind his long white facial hair. "Do you four have any idea what time it is?"
"Oh. Hello sir." Erza waved.