XXX
December 18th, X777
Over the next couple of days, Lucy learned a lot about Natsu's world, centered around the gods he believed in. Lucy was, admittedly, fairly impressed with all of it. He loved each and every one of the ones he spoke of dearly, even those he didn't really get along with – including the god who ferried the dead, who he complained about every time he came up in conversation. While Lucy wasn't sure they were gods, per se, she believed they were real people, and while he didn't name very many of them, he explained who each and every single one was with an enthusiasm that tended to bring an unsolicited smile to Lucy's face.
Natsu had focused heavily on a particular goddess as of late. Erza, he'd called her, though he'd told Lucy time and time again when she'd asked about her that she wasn't necessarily a goddess. She was Death itself, according to Natsu. Her touch brought death and summoned the god Natsu complained about to the dying. She was the wife of the god who controlled Hel. Natsu told Lucy her temper was legendary among the gods.
"She would have been a really good war god," he'd commented once. "But Mavis didn't decide her role like she did most of us. Erza's a spirit, so she's different from ones like me. It's probably a good thing she's not a spirit of war though. Erza only sees one side of the coin: hers."
And then, there was Mavis, the spirit of Valhalla. Natsu spoke of her regularly – oftentimes when he was swearing at something, or muttering oaths and curses. Just once, Lucy dared to ask why he was so upset with Mavis. His eyes had burned with betrayal and anger that sent chills down her spine when he responded, "She threw us from Valhalla, and now we're lost."
He'd been unforgiving, brutal even in that moment. He'd reminded Lucy of the world they now lived in. That kind of rage made very dangerous enemies, and Lucy was glad they were on the same page the majority of the time. What if he turned on her with that anger? Would he leave her to the Vhalis? Lucy knew he'd promised otherwise, and she trusted him immensely despite having known him for only a short period of time. Still, it was frightening.
Now, Lucy waited nervously for Natsu to emerge from the abandoned home they'd found, hoping he'd not be much longer. Dusk was quickly coming, and the Vhalis would be out and about in the hopes that they'd find someone stupid enough to remain outside. The house they'd come across was an old farm house, and it had looked safe enough. Lucy hoped they could stay for two or three days, so they could rest, plan, and regroup. Natsu, of course, had gone to investigate it before Lucy could even offer to do so herself, telling her to stay where she was.
Lucy studied the house. It was beautiful. She'd once dreamed of owning one like it, with its massive property and beautiful setting. It was well-loved by its previous owners, but clean, with white siding and a black roof. Its big porch overlooked the sunset and was even complete with a matching white rocking chair. Her heart ached as she imagined the people who'd owned it. She wondered if they'd had children, or even grandchildren, who'd played in the swing set that stood sturdily out in the front yard.
Lucy looked up when Natsu called her name. He'd opened a window on the second floor and leaned out, waving at her. His pink hair was shockingly dull against the white siding of the house. He grinned, calling, "C'mon, Luce! It's safe, and there's a ton of stuff we can use here."
"Really?" Lucy perked up and hurried for the house. A true smile, the first in days, appeared as she climbed the porch steps. She was exhausted from walking nonstop, and she hoped that a day or two of rest would help her recover before they continued on their way. She was sure that surprise supplies would make her feel better, too.
Natsu was thundering down a staircase to join her by the time she stepped inside. He was still smiling when he stopped halfway, a hand lingering on the railing. "Come look. There's a whole bunch of stuff up here."
Lucy adjusted her light pack, imagining what it would be like to load it full of supplies again. "Did you check the faucets?" she asked as she followed him upstairs. "Is the water working?" They'd managed to find just a little within an hour of walking the day after seeing the shade, but it'd not been nearly enough, and it had been disgustingly stale. She'd scarcely taken a handful of it, worried it would make her sick. She needed a far better source of water.
And so did Natsu, though the bottle of water she'd given him had been filled with far more than Lucy expected whenever he offered it to her to drink from. He really ought to be drinking more, she thought with some concern, worried he was trying to let her have all of their supplies. Lucy appreciated the thought, though she really wished he wouldn't. What good would it do them if he died from dehydration because he was being too nice?
"Not yet," said Natsu casually, which told her right away he'd not even thought about it. He stopped in the doorway of a bedroom, pointing. "Look, I found all this instead."
Lucy gently took hold of Natsu's shoulder to nudge him aside. She knew immediately what she saw and froze in complete, utter horror. The room was stacked high with neatly organized supplies, from canned foods to jerky to matches and lighters, to many containers of untouched purified water. There were even a few weapons here and there, papers, even piles of cloth. Everything.
Which meant–
"We need to go." Lucy tightened her grip on his shoulder, dragging him out of the room. "Natsu, we need to leave. Now–"
"No one's going anywhere," retorted a voice behind her, and they spun around. Natsu scowled at the newcomer and nudged Lucy back, sweeping her smoothly behind him as if he intended to protect her. His friendly look vanished, replaced with cold mistrust. Any semblance of the warmth he often showed simply vanished as he glared warily at the man before them.
He didn't wield a weapon. He didn't even show his fists as he frowned severely at them. He was far taller than either of them, and middle-aged with a bald head. He didn't look unfriendly at least, only as wary of them as they were of him. It was for that reason that Lucy elbowed past Natsu, ignoring his huff of protest.
"I'm sorry," she said hastily, even as a thrill ran through her bones. This was another human being. A living one, something she'd not seen outside of Natsu in months. "We didn't intend to steal, I swear. We just saw the place and thought it'd make a good shelter for a night or two. We didn't know it was occupied. We'll leave."
Natsu gawked at her, horrified. "Lucy. It's a safe spot!"
She glared over her shoulder at him. "And it's occupied, Natsu."
He opened his mouth to argue with her, but they were silenced when the man gave a startled laugh. They looked back at him. His eyes twinkled merrily as he studied them, the tension easing from his body. "I would not mind the company for a night, so long as you're serious about having no intention to steal from me," reassured the man, and Lucy could have cried in relief. She was still nervous, but they didn't have much of a choice. Not as the sun disappeared behind the horizon and cast the world in perpetual darkness.
"Thank you," said Lucy sincerely. "And if it's no trouble to you, could we maybe trade for some supplies? We don't have much, but…" Her fingers curled anxiously around her mother's necklace. She fumbled with it, saddened by the thought of losing it. But they needed those supplies to survive, and it was all she had to trade. "I…I have this," she offered, showing the man the necklace. "I could trade it to you."
The man shook his head, seemingly amused. "I don't mind exchanging supplies," he said. "But that necklace of yours clearly has a lot of sentimental value, and I'm not one who likes to take from people like that. Perhaps you can entertain me with company and stories instead."
Lucy couldn't help the relieved breath she released. "That we can certainly do."
The man introduced himself as Jura and told them they could take anything they wanted, so long as they were conscious of what he might need and kept a very detailed inventory of what they'd take with them when they left. He warned them against stealing, telling them he also kept a good inventory. As willing as he was to let them take some supplies and stay for the night, he'd not tolerate thieving. Lucy wisely kept a good list, not wanting to make an enemy of him.
Natsu, unfortunately, wasn't too helpful when it came to gathering the things he thought they'd need. More often than not, he'd appear beside her with something he hoped could be useful, such as unnecessary sweets or heavy trinkets, and Lucy would have to gently tell him to put them back. He looked so disappointed that just once, Lucy sighed and agreed they could take a package of cookies with them.
When their supplies had been packed and set aside for the next morning, Lucy and Natsu settled down for a surprisingly large meal with their new acquaintance. Jura had cooked something on the gas stove he'd lit with a lighter while they'd worked, and Lucy couldn't help but shed a few happy tears as she took the plate he gave her. How long had it been since she enjoyed such a full meal?
Lucy managed to keep Natsu from digging in until they were all served, and even then she only okayed it once Jura started eating. Natsu tore into the food like a starved man – and no wonder, since Lucy suspected he'd let her have the majority of their supplies. Once they'd all started eating, Lucy asked hesitantly, "Where are you from, Jura?"
"Here." Jura's smile was one of amusement as he gestured to the house they were in. "This was my house, long before the sky fell. I didn't know what was happening around Fiore until I tried to drive to Magnolia and was ambushed by those creatures roaming around."
"Vhalis," said Lucy. "That's what we've been calling them."
"Vhalis," Jura echoed with a small nod. "That fits them. I'll call them as such, too."
Natsu lowered his mostly empty plate, suddenly glaring at them. "They're not just…creatures, wandering around. They're lost souls. Have some respect, would you? They have nowhere to go and Gray's not helping them. It's not their fault they're so angry. You'd be attacking everything that moved if you were stuck enduring the pain of what killed you for so long."
Lucy winced. Natsu hadn't brought that up before when they'd discussed the Vhalis. Regardless, for just a moment, Lucy could remember the empty crater she'd once seen in Magnolia. She remembered how devastated the area surrounding it had been, as if whatever had emerged from that crater had taken its rage out on the town around it. Lucy shivered, deciding not to bring that up ever. She was sure Natsu would find a way to connect it to what he often spoke of, and Lucy didn't want to even entertain the idea of what he might suggest as a potential explanation. After all…if he was right…then just what the hell had emerged?
Interest sparked in Jura's gaze, and he leaned forward, as Lucy often found herself doing without meaning to when Natsu got into his heated rants about something or another. His excitement and agitation would often quicken his tongue, and Lucy couldn't often keep up when he got like that. "Oh?" said Jura. "And who is this Gray?"
Lucy narrowed her eyes warily at Jura. She couldn't tell if he was simply entertaining Natsu or really interested in hearing what Natsu had to say about the matter. Still, Natsu rolled his eyes and said, "The god who ferries the dead. The bastard's got something to do with the Vhalis. He has to."
"You speak as if you know him personally."
Natsu paused, stopping in his tracks to study Jura. He glanced at Lucy, almost as if asking for permission. She shrugged, and Natsu relaxed. His gaze cleared and he said confidently, "I do. I'm the sun god," he added. "I would have made him fix it sooner if I could track his diale."
The word was foreign in Lucy's ears. "His dial?"
"Dee-ahl-eh," he corrected. "not a dial. Diale."
"And what do these diale do?" asked Jura, entirely too fascinated in Lucy's opinion. He'd even set aside his half-eaten plate, head tipped ever so slightly in interest.
Natsu's eyes lit with excitement at the prospect of telling someone who didn't appear to question everything he said with criticism. Lucy couldn't blame him. She was rather nit-picky when she didn't understand what he was telling her, trying to poke holes in his explanations. She felt a little guilty about it. It must have upset him when she did that.
Natsu brushed his fingers fondly over his scarf. "A diale takes the form of something you had on you when you become a god. It has to mean a lot to you – more than anything else you might have on you at the time." He didn't declare it, but Lucy guessed his supposed diale was the scarf he wore. He never let it out of his sight. "They help direct our power."
It sounded as if there was more that he could tell them about diale, but he refused, instead clamping his mouth shut. She wondered why. Regardless of what he thought that scarf was, it was clearly important to him. After all, Lucy had never seen him without it.
"Interesting," mused Jura aloud. "What else can you tell me?"
Natsu's eyes lit with joy and he launched into an incredible babbling rant about what Lucy had labeled "god stuff." Several minutes in, Lucy's head was spinning with the sheer amount of information he was giving. It was like a dam had cracked and information was simply pouring out in a torrential flood. It was even more than when she'd said he could tell her what he wanted, and she wondered if he'd been holding back for fear that she'd make him stop. Jura listened intently and only when Natsu stopped, startled they'd let him go on for so long, did Jura lean back and laugh.
"It's quite interesting," he said sincerely, repeating the word with certainty. "Perhaps you'd be interested in hearing some information then, which I gathered from another passerby a few weeks ago. Are you heading to Crocus?"
"Yes," said Lucy immediately, rubbing her temples. She eyed Jura ruefully. She'd never make sense of Natsu's storytelling now. "What information?"
"I've heard there's a significant amount of Vhalis to the south of Crocus," explained Jura. Lucy sat up straighter, frowning. This was important. They could have walked right into danger and not ever known. "Not in the city itself, but along the outskirts, where the suburbs lie. There's dozens, if not hundreds of them. I thought it interesting they lingered there rather than the city itself as most tend to do."
Slowly, Natsu turned to look at Lucy hopefully, bright eyes reflecting light in a troublesome way. Her companion's hopeful look made her want to beg him to keep his mouth shut and not ask what she knew was coming. But he asked anyway. "Luce, could we go there? It's near the place you wanted to see anyways, and we might find something or someone there! Another god and a new home for you at the same time!"
Lucy wanted to throttle Jura despite all the supplies he'd freely given them. Running a hand down her face, she murmured, "Natsu…" She was glad to know about the Vhalis, but she certainly couldn't just go towards them. They'd almost certainly kill them. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. I don't really want to walk into a Vhalis-infested area and get us killed. The only reason either of us made it this long is because we've avoided that kind of thing."
Desperation colored his voice. "C'mon, I told you they'd leave you alone."
Lucy remained firm and shook her head. "No. That many Vhalis is a death sentence. If you think that some god is attracting them, and you call yourself a god, too–"
"Don't mock me," he snapped. His onyx eyes grew hard, and she saw a flicker of something there. Lucy fought the urge to flinch back. She'd not meant to upset him, only argue her point using his logic. "I didn't say they wouldn't come, Lucy, I said they'd leave you alone. Vhalis are lost souls. Who else would they try and go to? Of course they're attracted to gods. They know the gods are the ones who can help them. What would you rather have? A temporary relief by inflicting pain or someone to send you home?"
Lucy carefully considered her options. Aware that Jura was still there, simply letting them argue amongst themselves, Lucy chose to remain firm in her stance. "What happens when we get there, Natsu? Walk into the middle of somewhere full of Vhalis that will kill us given the chance? We'd be overwhelmed. We'd be killed. Immediately."
She wouldn't do it. She would not walk willingly into a situation she knew would kill her, and she wasn't so willing to let Natsu do it either. Not when losing him would mean struggling alone in the world again.
Natsu angrily searched her gaze for a few moments. The anger vanished, replaced with the frustration, but Lucy got the feeling he understood what she refused to admit aloud: she was terrified. "Fine," he mumbled, defeated, and Lucy's guilt ached in her chest.
So, she offered a compromise. "Maybe," she said hesitantly, "we can get close enough to find signs of someone? Or they might come find us. And then, you know, we find them in turn."
Natsu stared at her, and then broke into a wide smile that sent relief soaring through her. She didn't like when they argued, she realized. She'd not known Natsu long in the grand scheme of things, but they'd become something at least similar to friends. "Okay," he agreed. "We can just go by, but if we hear or see anything–"
"We'll stop and investigate as long as it's not Vhalis," she said confidently. Happy to be done with that, Lucy turned to Jura, who had watched it all with no small amount of amusement on his face. "So, Jura," she said, a little flustered, "tell us some stories about yourself."
Jura chuckled and did just that.
Jura! Some new people showing up are always good. AND next chapter, things really start picking up. ;)
Thanks to reviewers (TheAngelicPyro, beginswithkay, sonicloudaj, marn-marn, Guest #1, MPRime, VioletZap, uhhzy, Nami4Life, and Sele de la Luna!) as well as those who favorited and followed! I really enjoy the fact that people are reading and liking this! :D
