Chapter Forty-One
Fracture
"The power of a Dragon at your fingertips, and it's squandered on a small-minded fool like you!" The Stargazer's voice boomed around the sky when he saw the vision of fire rise from the steps to the peak of the tower.
The small platform jutted out by no more than half a dozen feet, but it was enough for the Dragon Slayer to stand on.
The magic that had perfectly transferred as intended had morphed and mutated. It was no longer Dragon Slayer magic that flowed through the Stargazer's veins, but rather a raw magical source that had allowed him to take to the skies and defy gravity as he'd always dreamed of.
There he was, blissfully ignorant of the tides of wind that warped around his body while he gracefully spared around the tower that had been his home for decades.
"You've run out of jokes, little Dragon? I assume that little light show of fire around your body is all you can do now that almost all of your magic is mine!" The old man cackled maniacally as he flew faster and faster, feeling indestructible with the power at his fingertips.
Natsu slowly raised a single hand, two fingers pointing forward at the Stargazer before they sharply rose. A pillar of fire shot out of his fingers like a grand orange and red spear that streaked across the sky like an angry meteor.
It narrowly missed the Stargazer, but he'd felt the sheer heat coming across it, enough to burn the man's skin, leaving harsh tingles behind simply from his proximity to the attack.
"Even after everything I threw at you, you don't have the decency to just die! So it becomes a race, can you catch me before I reach the stars, Dragon!?" The Stargazer shot upwards, racing higher and higher.
Natsu took two steady steps before kneeling low, his legs crunching together and his muscles building immense pressure.
He released everything all at once, the built-up power utterly destroyed the top of the tower, shearing the entire peak free from the room he'd been held in.
Natsu flew higher and higher, easily. His body spun mid-flight, still rising higher and higher despite how hard the Stargazer was trying to catch up.
With a single hand raised above, a huge sphere erupted into existence, the swirling flames roaring with deafening sounds that could be heard even on the streets of Loduhn.
The immensity of the fireball had eviscerated all darkness and shadows in the streets, casting only the shadow of himself upon them, even that much had struck fear into the hearts of all that could see him.
It wasn't the shadow of the Dragon that some of them had seen appear in his flames before, now it was something sickeningly dark and evil.
The Stargazer had no time to react, the collected power exploded, setting the sky ablaze as far as the eye could see, turning everything into a fiery tempestuous inferno that swallowed and engulfed him. Every cloud that had stretched across the horizon had been utterly evaporated, leaving the whole of the skyline bare and exposed, with only the moon sitting untouched by flame.
Gray, Gajeel, Mira, and the creature known as Smiling Jack all watched in stunned silence as the events high above unfolded.
It took a few moments before the fire had died out and the dark of night had returned. Nobody had the chance to move or question what they'd seen.
Natsu slammed into the ground, descending from the sky faster than anyone had been able to see. His boots impacted against the cobbled stone with enough force to leave a small crater in his stead.
He slowly stepped out of the indent in the earth, his eyes lazily scanning each of them.
"That's the thing that took Laxus down with one blow, except, this thing makes the one from that time look incomplete," Gajeel whispered, eyes wide with horror.
They heard the clatter of Smiling Jack's razor hit the ground. The creature ran in, falling down into a kneel before the emblazoned figure of Natsu.
"Master!" It pleaded joyously, the sickening smile turning into one of pure bliss, "It's really you, only a few remained loyal to that imbecile in the guild, many thought you were just a myth fabricated to give him absolute control in your stead, but I recognize you now, my deepest apologies, please forgive my insolence!" The Etherious bowed deep, its head reaching the floor before he looked back up.
The man they thought they knew as Natsu Dragneel slowly looked down at the creature, not showing any emotion, barely even acknowledging Smiling Jack's existence. "Etherious," the voice that came out made all of the mages feel like a shard of ice had been pressed against their spines. It was dark, the voice of a tortured soul, but it held so much raw power that it emanated throughout their bones.
"Pitiful creature," he said. His voice sounded like it was half the Natsu they knew and half something else entirely, it was a voice that besides Natsu himself, the only living mortal to have ever heard was Mirajane. It was ingrained in her brain, and there was nothing that anyone would ever be able to do that would free her from the hold it had.
"Master, please! Let us destroy these mortals and return to Tar-"
With barely a wave of the hand, Smiling Jack had been reduced to a pile of ash, only the start of an agonized scream coming out before the creature had been destroyed.
Natsu's hollow fiery gaze turned, looking straight into the three Fairy Tail mages that now stood before him, emotionless as he advanced, seeing only minute obstacles in his path.
"That's what he's got locked away inside his head, it isn't fully in control, it doesn't look completely like what I saw, but clearly it's powerful enough to be a serious problem," Mira explained, stepping in front of Gray and Gajeel.
"What exactly are we looking at?" The Iron Dragon Slayer asked, trying to steel his nerves.
"The only thing that Natsu is afraid of," Gray answered, covering everything around them in the coldest ice he could summon. "Himself," the ice-make mage added before the two opposing elements clashed in a horrifically one-sided battle.
The disturbing level of power being thrown around had sent cracks through the tower, even going so far as to create fissures in the floor where Erza still sat motionless with Lucy's body in her arms.
A faint glow began to grow around her, catching Erza's attention, though she didn't know what to make of it.
She realized that it was the magic Natsu had tried to give her, still attempting to do something to the deceased Celestial mage. Even his raw magic was just as stubborn and unwilling to give up as he was.
"Oh Natsu, I'm so sorry," she said, clutching Lucy tighter, the tears in her eyes falling freely, "Lucy, I..." she stopped short, unable to properly look at her, "Here I thought that Natsu and I would have been... That we... How stupid I am, I never had a chance with you around, but for all that it's worth, I'd give it all up to bring you back to us. I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve any of this." Erza cried out, her tears making damp patches in Lucy's hair.
The rumbling in the tower grew, she couldn't feel the magic that had been in the sky, and she couldn't sense any opposing forces in the streets below, but what she could feel was the unmistakable feeling of her guildmates, and the growing strength of the Dragon Slayer that had been unchained.
Her attention had been sharply pulled away from the hurt and pain she was feeling by the growing orange aura that had enveloped Lucy, it fell dim for a few seconds before it came alight, turning from light to actual flame. It didn't burn or cause any harm to Erza, it was a kind and warm sensation that fell over her. Her brief reverie of comfort had been shattered the moment that Lucy's body had lurched forward.
The Celestial mage gasped for air like she hadn't been dead, but simply suffocating for the past five minutes. She opened her eyes, blinking around wildly, nothing registering in her senses. Despite the magic flowing through her, she was cold. She fell back into Erza's arms, shivering as she did.
"What happened?" she asked, looking up at Erza, only barely able to make out the deep scarlet hair.
"Lucy!" Erza gripped her tight, unwilling to let her go, "I think... I think Natsu pulled you back from the land of the dead," she whispered, unsure of what to make of it all. She'd watched Lucy breathe her last, and she'd watched Natsu lose himself to grief, the internal darkness taking over.
"We need to go!" Erza said, her face darting up, "I think you're the only one who can save Natsu from himself. If he sees that you're alive, we might be able to reign him in, let's go!" she said, pulling Lucy up with incredible ease, carrying her as she backtracked through the spiralling staircase that led back down to the streets of Loduhn.
He'd done it, he had really done it. His magic had pulled her back from the clutches of death.
Now, the only problem that truly remained was the immensely powerful immortal being puppeteered by the Demon he kept caged inside.
A/N: To be absolutely clear, that isn't END released, you don't get to see that yet. Additionally, almost everything that feels particular to certain aspects is planned. Lucy did die, she was revived, and there is a reason. Ch.44, I think you'll love it, needed it to happen for the romance to advance, trust me on this. And, ugh, review?
