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January 4th, X778
The cave was pitch-black and frigidly cold, even as Lucy tightened her coat around her and kept as close as she could to Natsu. A strange breeze occasionally whisked through the air. Lucy wondered if the wind had to do with whatever god they were supposedly tracking. Lucy ended up pulling out two flashlights, tossing one to Gray and keeping one for herself. If she was going to be stupid enough to follow a pair of gods into a dark cave in the middle of a weird, rocky hill, then she was going to man the damn light source. Well, one of them.
Gray had no fear of the cave, even leading the way. He shone the flashlight this way and that, dark eyes searching the blackness for any sign of life. Lucy felt no shame for the way she latched onto the hand Natsu had offered her to avoid getting separated. He didn't seem to mind, even tightening his grip on hers reassuringly as they made their way further inside.
A soft splash made Lucy jump. She snapped her flashlight in the direction of the noise as it echoed around them. A rock had fallen into a small pool of water. Irritated by her fear, Lucy pushed through it and muttered to Natsu, "This is the first thing in what not to do when surviving the apocalypse, you know."
Natsu snorted quietly, grinning at her in response. "But it's fun."
Eventually, they came to a large cavern – one that seemed to blossom with light and beauty. "Wow," said Lucy, voice echoing and bouncing off the walls back at them. Stones embedded into the cavern's walls glowed a beautiful blue-green, offering significant amounts of light. Gray meandered over to tap one with a finger, frowning, but said nothing about them. At least the cave was pretty, supposed Lucy.
"Come on," Gray called when he found a side path, waving for them to follow. He even listened when Lucy told him to turn off his flashlight to conserve the battery, for the way was lit with more glowing stones. The path was small enough that they had to walk single-file, and Natsu nudged her ahead so she could walk between him and Gray.
The path went on for a while before they emerged in yet another cavern. This one was massive and lined with similarly glowing stones that were larger than the ones they'd seen before.
And someone clearly called it home.
Gray bolted, abandoning them when he saw the smoldering ruins of a fire that had just been put out, the blankets and padding stretched out on a flat section of stone lined with straw and dead grass. Whoever lived here, thought Lucy as she eyed the make-shift bed, knew what they were doing. They'd ensured to separate their body from the cold stone to protect them from the chill.
"There's supplies over there," Natsu said beside Lucy, pointing. Lucy looked. There was a pile of various things, just as he'd said. Food, cloth, even what looked to be some pill bottles. "I don't think whoever this belongs to is a god, Gray." They didn't need sustenance after all.
Which brought up a very important question. "Then who is it? It's practically a haven for the Vhalis, so I doubt they'd survive if they were human. And you said you sensed something like a god, so…"
A black rage seemed to suddenly creep over Gray's face when he looked at them. Lucy could have sworn that the black of his fingers seemed to etch itself further up his hands, that the temperature dropped ever so slightly. "Someone who stole a diale?" he bit out as Natsu released Lucy's hand and meandered away, trailing along a cavern wall.
Lucy glanced at the scarf Natsu wore. The diales were important, she recalled. A way to help guide power, and particularly helpful in times like these. She supposed it must be irregular for a diale to be willingly given to someone else, no matter how temporary. She recalled the comments Gray had made about it when she'd borrowed Natsu's. Not that she knew what to do with it other than use it as a scarf or sling. "What happens when someone steals a diale?" she asked with some hesitance, doubting it would be a question either would want to answer.
To her surprise, Gray did answer, his eyes sharp as he threw her a warning glare. "If they're in the wrong hands, they can force our hands. It's a good thing Erza's a spirit; if she were a god and someone were to get their hands on a diale that belonged to her…" Lucy flinched. She didn't even want to think about what someone bad could do with Death's power. Gray shook his head, indicating he wouldn't say more. Instead, he frowned as Natsu ignored them both and wandered over to a darker section of the cavern, dropping into a crouch before a part of the wall.
"It wasn't a diale we felt – it was Grandeeney." Bracing his hands on his knees, Natsu grinned, wavering in balance when a sharp wind suddenly gusted through the cavern. Lucy threw her hands out to keep her own balance, furrowing her brow. "No need for that," he said aloud. "You're a friend of hers, right? Grandeeney? She's the wind spirit. She's the only one who can do stuff like that."
Lucy and Gray stared at him, puzzled for a moment. Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin when a shockingly young, fearful voice cried, "Go away!"
"It's a kid," said Gray, as shocked as Lucy was.
Horror spliced through Lucy, erasing any fear lingering in her bones. She rushed over to join Natsu and found that he'd discovered a crack in the cave walls. He was peering into the crack, and amongst glowing stones, Lucy realized she could see someone's shadow there, squeezed in among them. The young girl barely fit. Her face was tight with terror, and her eyes darted between them with a wild panic.
Lucy rolled her shoulders to ease away the tension and smiled at her, trying to remember what it was like to be friendly. This girl had likely experienced enough fear to outlast Lucy's. "We won't hurt you," she said. "I'm Lucy. This is Natsu, and the jerk over there is Gray."
"I heard that," muttered Gray as he came to join them, grumbling under his breath.
The girl took a moment to answer, still suspicious. "The last time someone came, they tried to steal my supplies."
Tried.
Lucy wasn't sure she wanted to know how they'd tried and failed to steal supplies from a girl this young.
"Yeah, well," said Natsu as the girl pressed back further into her hiding place. Perhaps the wind that whistled past them had whispered of the safe hiding spot to her, for she was warily tipping her head to the side, as if listening to it as Natsu spoke. "Grandeeney wouldn't like it if we stole from you, so you don't need to worry about that."
"...you're like Grandeeney," realized the girl.
"Sort of." Natsu shrugged, raking his hand through his pink hair. "Not really though."
The girl contemplated what to do for a few moments longer, and then suddenly began squeezing her way out. Natsu moved back to give her more room, and when she popped free, her gaze immediately darted from face to face. "Grandeeney says she trusts you, so I suppose you can't be too bad," she said uncertainly, returning her attention to Natsu when he flashed her a bright, friendly smile. "My name's Wendy."
"It's nice to meet you, Wendy," said Lucy sincerely, unable to help being a little excited about there being another human survivor in front of her. She looked back when she heard a splash in the nearby pool of water, frowning suspiciously in the direction they'd come. Shaking it off, Lucy turned back to Wendy. "Don't worry. Natsu's the only one you'd have to worry about, and if he touches your food, I'll kick him out for you."
Natsu playfully elbowed her leg, pouting up at her as he complained he'd never do such a thing, which seemed to draw a ghost of a smile from Wendy. Her amusement shone on her face in the soft light of the glowing stones. "How long have you been here?" Gray asked as he crouched beside Natsu, earning himself a small glare for it.
Wendy turned her attention onto Gray, amusement vanishing. "A little while. Grandeeney said it was safer to hide here. The creatures can't get to me in there," she pointed to the crack in the wall, "and they don't like Grandeeney much, so they don't usually come in here. Sometimes they get too hungry though, and I have to wait for them to leave."
Lucy shivered at the thought of being stuck in a crack in a cavern wall, waiting for the Vhalis to leave. She didn't dare ask how long Wendy had waited, or if she'd ever gotten trapped in her hiding place. "Well," she said, "you're in good hands, Wendy. Natsu's good at making sure we avoid them, and they hate Gray, so they avoid him."
"They don't like you?" said Wendy curiously, thrilled by the idea.
Gray was less happy about it and grudgingly admitted, "No."
Wendy tipped her head to the side to listen to the wind again as a breeze caressed their skin. Wendy's gaze searched the empty air as she did so. "Grandeeney says I should stay with you. That you're going somewhere safer than here."
Lucy exchanged a swift look with Natsu, and was pleased when he decided to defer to her for an answer to Wendy's unstated question. "You're more than welcome to join us if you'd like. We were told about a safehouse. That's where we're heading, though we have to make a detour first. We don't actually know where it is yet."
"That's okay," said Wendy hastily, voice trembling a little with excitement and exhausted relief.
Lucy was delighted at the thought of having another human around, even if she was relatively young. She knew instinctively just by looking in Gray's direction that he'd not complain so much about things human-related with Wendy around. Pleased, Lucy suggested, "Let's pack up your supplies then. We should really get going before it gets much darker outside, so we can find somewhere safer. Dark places like this attract Vhalis, with or without Grandeeney's help."
Wendy furrowed her brow, but she didn't ask what Lucy meant by "Vhalis," instead opting to turn to her supplies and considering how to best pack them. They spent the next while doing just that, and Lucy coerced Gray into helping as Natsu enthusiastically began pushing things into places they shouldn't have been able to fit in. Wendy hesitantly traded a few things from a bag she had so they could fit more into their bags, too. Lucy let her choose what she wanted to give them to carry, not wanting to diminish the small bites of trust Wendy was offering.
It was as they were finishing up when a sharp, brisk breeze wafted over their faces, and Wendy stilled. Her lips parted as she listened. Wendy jolted and snapped around, eyes narrowed in the dim blue-green glow of the glowing cavern as she stared long and hard at the way they'd come. "Wendy?" prompted Natsu, but she didn't seem to hear him. She remained completely silent, watching the darkness.
A soft splash made her face twist with sudden panic, and Lucy didn't need to even ask. She grabbed the bag she'd been packing things into and immediately looked at Natsu with fear. Natsu hastily finished shoving a few things into his bag, leaping to his feet, humming. Bright suns flickered to life in his eyes as he lurched forward to help Wendy haul her heavy bag on. Gray went on high alert, too, though he didn't seem overly concerned, knowing he didn't need to be too afraid of the Vhalis.
"Is there another way out of here?" demanded Natsu, and Wendy nodded.
"This way," Wendy said, darting to a corner of the cavern that was darker than the rest. Lucy groaned in protest, fear already seeping through her bones at the mere idea of entering those shadows. Still, she forced herself to chase after Wendy, Natsu and Gray following at the tail end of their group.
Wendy led them into a beautiful tunnel that was even more brightly lit, much to Lucy's relief. She wove among them and darted around corners with graceful ease, telling Lucy she likely came and went from her cave in this way. The floor swept upwards quite suddenly, and Lucy grimaced, flagging at the now steep climb. Natsu hovered at her shoulder, nudging her along. After what seemed like far too long, they emerged from the cave at the top of another hill, faces kissed by a chilly breeze and snowflakes falling about them.
"We should get out of this area," said Natsu, eyeing the dusk with a knowing look. As if backing his idea up, there was a piercing scream, echoing from the cave behind them. "We should find somewhere safer for the night."
Lucy agreed, checking to make sure Wendy was ready. She'd stopped to look back at her small cave entrance with a pained look. But, as a small wind blew over her cheek and sent blue strands of hair dancing in the air, she seemed to relax. Still nervous, Wendy looked at Lucy. Lucy smiled gently in understanding and offered a hand to hold.
Wendy took it, clutching at Lucy's fingers like Lucy was the only thing promising this was real.
It wasn't their best place of rest, but it wasn't the worst either. They'd found a decent dip in the ground that provided some shelter deep in the forest. The space was edged with sharp stones, so finding a good place to sleep was difficult. They made it work regardless. It didn't take long for Wendy to pass out, and Lucy found herself sitting before the small fire Natsu had built, brushing her hand over Wendy's hair in a soothing way as she snuggled against Lucy's leg. How many nights had Wendy worried about the Vhalis attacking her in her sleep despite her safe cave? Despite the breeze that talked to her and warned her of danger? Lucy was sure it was often, for Wendy had fallen into deep sleep almost immediately upon being allowed to stop.
Natsu and Gray were still awake, too, naturally. They were muttering to one another, which Lucy didn't think was a good sign. She narrowed her eyes pointedly at them when they both glanced her way – no, she realized. Not at her, but at Wendy. "Are you going to keep staring or tell me what's going on?" she asked in a low voice, careful not to wake Wendy.
Natsu smiled sheepishly at her, waving her over. Lucy carefully left Wendy to rest and made her way around their flickering fire to join them. Once she'd settled beside Natsu, a few feet from Gray. "Wendy's not one of Grandeeney's Favored like I thought she was," he told her.
"One, what do you mean by 'favored,' and two, if she's not one of those, then so what?" said Lucy.
Gray scratched the back of his head and sighed impatiently. "We mark people we favor with a small piece of ourselves. It just means you're favored by a particular god. A lot of us do it for people who tend to fall along our own lines of thinking."
"Mirajane likes people who practice witchcraft," said Natsu to Lucy as if it did much to erase her confusion. "Gajeel likes people skilled at war. Gray likes navigators. Like that."
Gray smirked at Natsu and added, "Natsu made you one of his Favored. Like that. Could be why the Vhalis want you so much."
"Did he?" muttered Lucy with a glare in Natsu's direction. "And you didn't think to ask first?"
Natsu shrugged, pretending he hadn't heard her. "We think Wendy's a demigod, or something like it. Grandeeney's not a god, she's a spirit. We think Wendy's her daughter. It's why she can hear Grandeeney in the wind. Favored can't do something like that. I'd bet she can even alter it a little."
Lucy considered that, still a little distracted by the fact that Natsu was apparently considering her one of his Favored, whatever that meant. "What does that mean for Wendy regarding the Vhalis then?" she asked tentatively. "Are they going to want her more or leave her alone like you, Gray?" She looked over her shoulder in Wendy's direction, unable to believe that a literal creature of the wind would be Wendy's mother. She looked as human as Lucy.
Gray considered the matter before admitting, "Probably makes it worse for her. She's got the blood of the spirits, which isn't far off from ours, and they'd think she could help them. But she's also got human blood, which means they might come looking to take out their suffering on her. She's lucky she wasn't killed before now, actually." His dark eyes grew troubled and he rested his chin in his hand. "I wonder why she didn't try to find one of us to help her sooner. Grandeeney keeps to herself, but she would have been more willing to send her daughter to us than some of the others. She should have told her to come find us, or even told one of us herself so we could find her."
"This world is a mess," sighed Lucy bitterly. The fact that Wendy even had to think about zombie-like creatures coming after her when she couldn't be more than fourteen years old… "I hope she's going to be safer when we find that safehouse. And I hope that it's not full of weirdos." Lots of things from the apocalypse shows on TV weren't like real life, but some of them…well, some people had been crazy before the Fall. Lucy couldn't imagine how crazy they'd get after.
People were humans, after all, and humans could get nasty when it came to their survival.
"You'll be safer, too," said Gray casually, thoughtfully tipping his head back to look up at the star-dotted sky. His breath seemed to crystallize before his face. "A safehouse means other humans to help keep the Vhalis off your back."
He spoke to Lucy, but before Lucy could speak, Natsu cut in. "Humans can't stop the Vhalis, and you know it, Gray."
Lucy straightened her spine, eyes narrowing. "Is that true?"
Gray frowned unhappily at Natsu, annoyed as always with him. "Not necessarily. The Vhalis are lost souls – they're already dead. They just can't leave the body they died in behind, and because of it, they suffer the pain of their death wounds until I can release them. That is, if I can get there before they're too far gone."
It bothered him that the souls he ferried were suffering right now, Lucy knew, and she knew he intended to get to the bottom of it, too, with or without their help. She hoped that they found an answer soon, and not just because she wanted the world to go back to what it was. For all she knew, even if they could stop those who died from becoming Vhalis, there were still countless numbers of Vhalis that would need to be dealt with before normal life could even think about starting anew.
"But," continued Gray with a heavy sigh, "if you destroy the body, the souls have nothing to remain attached to, so the Vhalis…they don't die, but they can't move on either. They become even more lost. Sometimes, they leave imprints in the world. A lot of people liked to flock to those places in my time, claiming they were haunted. It was a thrill for the rich, because they had nothing better to do." He rolled his eyes, and suddenly more interested in hearing about "Gray's time" than the Vhalis, lucy rocked forward.
But rather than explaining more about the time before he'd become a god, Gray finished his explanation about the Vhalis. "So the Vhalis can't die, but you can destroy their physical form." He rested his chin on his knee after drawing it to his chest, eyeing Lucy. "Which leaves them harmless, but also makes them vulnerable to an eternity of misery."
Horrified, Lucy whipped around to gawk at Natsu. "You–"
"Hey," he said defensively, holding his hands up as if to placate her. "It's been a life or death kind of situation, Luce. It was us or them, and at least they're not suffering anymore."
"Depends on your definition of 'suffering,'" commented Gray unhelpfully.
Grumbling, Natsu glared at Gray, who smirked right back at him. Lucy rolled her eyes at the pair's childish bickering. Cutting in before they could start firing quips at one another, Lucy said, "Natsu said we can't stop the Vhalis. But he's stopped them. What's the difference between me setting fire with a match and him frying them?"
"He's a god. You're human." As if it should have been obvious to Lucy, and that Gray thought it meant more than enough sense.
Lucy ran a hand down her face and said, "I know they don't like the light so much, even if it doesn't stop them entirely. Would lighting a place up like crazy work to keep them away?"
Gray's smirk vanished, replaced with a touch of sympathy. "No. Like you said, they don't like it, but it's not gonna stop them entirely. Otherwise they'd avoid Natsu, too."
As if sensing the weight sinking Lucy's heart like an anchor, Natsu interrupted and nudged her gently. "You should go get some rest, Luce. We'll be up early. Gray and I'll keep an eye out and watch for the Vhalis. Okay?"
Lucy studied him, her lips pursed as he smiled sunnily at her in return. Almost playfully, his eyes began to gleam with that hidden glow. It was scarcely there at all with the sun low beneath the horizon, but he managed it. Reluctantly, Lucy admitted he was right. With a heavy sigh, she rose to her feet, intent on returning to her place beside Wendy. "Well, good night." She paused, then added on with a bit of sarcasm, "And don't let the Vhalis bite. Please."
Wendy! When I wrote this chapter, I didn't actually intend for them to find anyone, but Wendy just kind of showed up. Another little fact: Wendy was initially supposed to be entirely human, but also one that could scry with bones. I decided it didn't fit her, so here we are. :)
Thanks to reviewers (Sele de la Luna, TheAngelicPyro, LyliASL, takeagamble27, hopelesskar, Nami4Life, and mynameishelby!) as well as those who favorited and followed!
